501. The object and principles of civil government, and the duty of Christians thereto. Being a discourse preached before the West Baptist Church and Society, August 11, 1842 ... Published by request. Providence: printed by B. T. Albro, 1842.
$250
First edition, 8vo, pp. 11, [1]; later red leather-backed marbled boards, spine ends chipped away; all else very good.
Born in 1813, Kenyon resided in Providence for only a short period of time, and moved around the country seemingly at will (born in New York, at one time or another he lived in Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York again, Chicago, Iowa, and Wisconsin), and he was the author of a large number of religious hymns.
American Imprints; Bartlett, p. 94; Sabin 37582.
502. [King Philip's War.] Soldiers in King Philip's War. Being a critical account of that war with a concise history of the Indian wars of New England from 1620 to 1677. Official lists of the soldiers of Massachusetts Colony serving in Philip's War, and sketches of the principal officers, copies of ancient documents and records relating to the war. Also list of the Narragansett grantees of the united colonies Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut. With an appendix. Leominster, Mass.: printed for the author [by the Rockwell and Churchill Press, Boston], 1896.
$250
First edition, 8vo, pp. xiii, [1], 502; 2 cartographic plates; original maroon cloth, gilt-stamped spine; previous owner's signature on front free endpaper; very good.
One of a limited, but unspecified subscriber's edition signed by the author on a bookplate, as issued.
503. [King Philip's War.] A Rhode Islander reports. The second William Harris letter of August, 1676. Providence: Rhode Island Historical Society, 1963.
$45
Edition limited to 500 copies, 8vo, pp. v, [1], 95, [3]; endpapers with a facsimile of the letter in question; title page printed in green and black; original green cloth-backed marbled boards, gilt-lettered on upper cover and spine; fine copy in slightly chipped glassine.
504. [King Philip's War.] Flintlock or matchlock in King Philip's War? [wrapper title]. [Worcester: reprinted from the Proceedings of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, 1899.
SOLD
8vo, pp. 13, [3]; about fine in original printed blue wrappers.
Inscribed by the author inside the front wrapper.
505. [King Philip.] History of King Philip, sovereign chief of the Wampanoags. Including the early history of the settlers of New England. New York: Harper & Brothers, n.d., [after 1857].
SOLD
12mo, pp. [11], 14-410, 6 (ads); 12 full-page wood engravings; original pictorial blue cloth stamped in red and gilt; previous owner's inscription, top of spine chipped, bottom of spine cracked, some overall spotting; a good copy.
506. Sir Henry Vane, Jr. Governor of Massachusetts and friend of Roger Williams and Rhode Island. Providence: Preston & Rounds Company, 1909.
$75
8vo, pp. vii, [2], 207, [4] ads, [1]; original blue cloth stamped in gilt on upper cover and spine; very good.
The author was Pastor Emeritus of the First Baptist Church, Providence.
"Born and died in England, Vane (1612-1662) came to New England in 1635 and the following year was elected governor. He returned to England in 1637, to become a leader of the Long Parliament. His interest in New England continued. He was instrumental in procuring the Rhode Island charter, and his friendly efforts to aid the New England colonies were appreciated by Winthrop and Roger Williams. Soon after the restoration of the monarchy he was convicted of treason and executed" (Goodspeed 198: 597).
Not in Parks.
507. [King, Lida Shaw.] Lida Shaw King: an appreciation ... With a reproduction of a portrait by Frank W. Benson. [Boston]: privately printed [by D. B. Updike at the Merrymount Press], 1923.
$125
Edition limited to 650 copies, small 8vo, pp. [6], 12, [2]; plate of the portrait; original tan cloth-backed green paper-covered boards; fine. Attractively designed and printed on hand-made Venetia paper.
Accompanied by: Exercises Commemorative of Lida Shaw King Dean of Pembroke College 1905-1922. Held in Alumni Hall, March 3, 1932. Providence: Pembroke College, 1932. Edition limited to 500 copies printed by D. B. Updike at the Merrymount Press, 8vo, pp. [4], 22, [4]; original red cloth-backed pastepaper-covered boards made by Rosamond B. Loring. Presentation slip from the president of Pembroke laid in. Fine.
"Lida Shaw King was born in Boston. Her parents were Henry Melville King and Susan Ellen Fogg King. She graduated from Vassar College in 1890 and from Brown University (A.M.) in 1894 and continued her graduate studies at Vassar (1894–1895), Radcliffe (1897–1898), Bryn Mawr (1899–1900), and at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens (1900–1901) where she was awarded the Agnes Hoppin Memorial Fellowship. She taught the classics at Vassar (1894–1897) and at the Packer Collegiate Institute (1898–1899, 1901–1902), and at Brown was assistant professor of classical philology (1905–1909), dean of the Women's College from 1905–1922, and professor of classical literature and archæology 1909–1922" (Wikipedia).
Smith-Bianchi 574 and 749.
508. [Kingston.] Day book and general ledger of a general store in Kingston, Rhode Island. Kingston: June 13, 1849 - April 31, 1854.
SOLD
Tall folio (approx. 17" x 8"), 552 hand-numbered pages, contemporary full sheep, covers spotted and worn, the binding slightly skewed, but sound. The last 20 leaves with some moderate worming, with small loss.
Extensive general store ledger containing hundreds of customer names, and well over ten thousand entries for items bought, with prices, in the small village of Kingston. Kingston is in the town of South Kingstown, the site of the main campus of the University of Rhode Island. The store sold foodstuffs and general merchandise such as brooms, shoe brushes, axes, nails, indian meal, yarn, pins, apples, blackberries, tobacco, and so on.
There were a few general stores in Kingston in the 1850s, notably those operated by Thomas Taylor and Thomas P. Wells, so this is possibly from one of these. The proprietor may have been a notary or town functionary since he also charged for "papers" and "deeds". Frequent customers included Wilkins Updike, Elisha Potter, Luke Aldrich, Daniel Hazard, Thomas W. Noyes, John Caswell, Freeman P. Watson, Fanny Sherman, Mary Hazard, Rowland F. Gardner, George Fayerweather, and many more.
509. Gov. Knight's address to the farmers of Rhode-Island. October, 1832. Providence: printed by Cranston & Hammond, [1832].
$60
First edition, 8vo, pp. pp. 15, [1]; self-wrappers; stitched as issued; light spotting; very good.
Knight, a former governor and now a U.S. Senator, explains his opposition to President Jackson's policies, in particular the decision not to re-charter the Bank of the United States and the forced migration of Indian tribes to the West. Knight was the ninth governor of Rhode Island, serving from 1817 to 1821. In 1821 he was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the U.S. Senate "to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James Burrill, Jr.; he was reelected in 1823 as a Crawford Republican, in 1829 as an Anti-Jacksonian, and again in 1835 as a Whig, and served from January 9, 1821, to March 4, 1841" (Wikipedia).
American Imprints 13276; Bartlett, p. 170; Kress C.3193. Not in Sabin.
510. Manuscript notebook: "The March of Mind. A "thing" design'd to be "mouth'd" Commencement Day (So it favor find and the fates be kind,) by its maker, "J. P. K.". [Providence?: 1836].
$500
Small 4to, 20 leaves in all, in ink; very good and legible, but the notebook itself with covers loose and chipped. A note inside the front wrapper reads: "To the reader - The first four leaves do not belong to the piece as delivered. The reader will therefore begin at the fifth leaf. After reading from the fifth leaf onward, he may if he choose read the first four. They belong to the first edition, which proved too long, for the occasion."
The occasion was apparently commencement day for the Brown University class of 1836, of which Knowles was a member. It was Knowles, apparently, who composed and read the class poem that day, and which according to a faint pencil note, was published in July, 1836. (Of this, we found no record.) A note in a later hand at the bottom of the first leaf reads: "John Power Knowles, Judge of the United States District Court of Rhode Island 1870-1881. He was an accomplished versifier and writer and was cousin of Rev. James D. Knowles of Boston who wrote "An Addition to Gray's 'Eulogy in a County Churchyard'."
Laid in on 16 small octavo sheets is another of his poetical manuscripts, "Read before the Brother's Society, May 9th, 1835." And, tipped in at the back is an "Assignment of Parts for Com[mencement]." listing 22 students by name with assignments for "Valedictory," "Salutatory," "The Oration," etc., the Assignment torn at folds and miscreased, but without loss of any letters.
511. Butter balls and finger bowls. [Providence: Oxford Press, Inc.], 1960.
$75
8vo, pp. xi, [1], 487, [1]; 184 pages of illustrations; original green cloth stamped in gilt on upper cover and spine; pictorial dust jacket very slightly chipped, else fine.
The author was the sister of the artist and illustrator Charles Dana Gibson. In this memoir she records her tender relationship with Charles, her childhood, her career as a professional dancer, her life with her husband, a well-known bookbinder, and their life in Washington, D.C. and Bristol, R.I., a sequel, of sorts to her previously published Longfield.
512. Woman's will: a love play in five acts, with other poems. Buffalo: Moulton, Wenborne & Co., 1888.
$135
12mo, pp. [8], 65, [1]; original cream wrappers printed in gilt; spine a little cracked and slight toning; very good.
Koopman (1860-1937) was a native of Maine and worked briefly at the Astor Library, Cornell University as a cataloguer, and also in the libraries of Columbia, Rutgers and the University of Vermont. He found a home, however, at Brown University where for 37 years he was the chief librarian on who's watch the collections increased five-fold, and was built the John Hay Library (see Mitchell, Encyclopedia Brunoniana). This is likely his third book, preceded only by an ode to Farragut entitled The Great Admiral which was published in 1883, and a memorial to his cousin, Ellen S. Koopman, published in 13 pages in 1885.
513. Miss Rhode Island. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, [1978].
$20
First edition, 8vo, pp. [6], 213, [1]; fine copy in the dust jacket. A novel as much about Rhode Island as its main character Yvonne Doucette.
514. [Law - Customs - Triangle Trade.] Papers relative to the seizure of the British sloop Providence in Bristol Harbor, with the decision of the Supreme Court at Newport. N.p., n.d. [Likely Newport: ca. 1737].
$4,500
Folio, 12 pages, with legal glosses in the margins; some tears and chipping at the margins occasionally touching a letter or word (sense in most cases remains clear), old shadows, later pencil annotations in the margins; good and legible. This manuscript shows up via google in Norton's Catalogue of Rare Autographs, Coins, Etc. in 1862 priced at $2.
The case is outlined succinctly in the Acts of the Privy Council (Colonial - 1738), pp. 603-5: "Reference to the Committee of the petition of Peleg Brown of Newport, Collector of his Majesty's Customs in Rhode Island and the county of Bristol in America, hearing his appeal from a judgment of the General Assembly, 4 May, 1737, confirming a judgment of the Superior Court at Newport, 29. March, 1737, in favour of James Allen and Ezekiel Chever relating to 96 hogsheads and 6 barrels of foreign molasses...
"Brown alleges that on the 11th of March 1735 he made Seizure of a Sloop called the Providence Samuel Silk Master Laden with Ninety Six Hogsheads and Six Barrells of Foreign Molosses and also with twenty five Casks of Gunpowder Cloth and other Commoditys of the product and manufacture of Europe, which Lading the said Sloop had taken in at Surinam a Settlement belonging to the Dutch with an intent to run the same into New England. And that he had filed his Information in the Court of Vice Admiralty for Condemnation of the said Vessel and of the said European Goods, whereupon James Allen and Ezekiel Chever came in and Entered their Claim to the Sloop and set up a Claim by Attorney in the Name of one Green to the European Goods — That on the 30th of March 1736 the said Information came to trial when the Judge of the said Vice Admiralty Court condemned the said European Goods But acquitted the Ship upon a Distinction that the Owners ought not to Suffer for the Malfeazance of the Master...
"That in November following the said Allen and Chever brought an Action against the Petitioner in the inferior Court of Common Pleas in Rhode Island or Account of the Ninety Six Hogsheads and Six Barrells of Foreign Molosses which lay in Your Majestys Warehouse for securing the Duty imposed by Act of Parliament in Great Britain For Encouragement of the Sugar Colonys, and laid their Damages at three thousand pounds New England Money And on the 4th of January 1736 the same was tried when the Jury found the following Special Verdict, That if the Court should be of Opinion that the Duty of the said Molosses was due by Act of Parliament before the Landing they found for the Petitioner If the Court should not be of that Opinion then they found for the said James Allen and Ezekiel Chever the Damages Sued for and Costs of Court, But the Court being of Opinion, that the Duty of the said Molosses was due by Act of Parliament before the Landing, they gave Judgment for the Petitioner. On an appeal by Allen and Chever to the Superior Court of Judicature of Rhode Island, on 29 March, 1737, the jury gave a verdict against the petitioner for 1,848/. and costs. On the petitioner's appeal therefrom to the General Assembly of Rhode Island, on 4 May, 1737, judgment of the Superior Court was affirmed with costs.
"The Committee recommend that the appeal be sustained, and that upon the said Allen and Chevers paying the Dutys for the said Molasses imposed by the said Act of Parliament . . the same be restored to them by the said Appellant Peleg Browne. But in case the said Melasses or any Part thereof shall have been Sold and disposed of the Money arising thereby be Applyed in the first place to the Payment of the said Dutys and the Overplus be returned to the said Owners."
515. [Law.] A supplement to the Digest of the Laws ... 1798. Public laws of the state of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, passed since the session of the Hon. General Assembly in January, A.D. 1798. Providence: printed by Jones & Wheeler, printers to the state, for Henry Cushing, at the Bible and Anchor, No. 2, Market Square, 1810.
$225
First edition, 8vo, pp. 144; original cloth-backed boards; text a bit browned and dampstained; good and sound.
An Act relative to the catching of lobsters, An Act for the preservation of stakes and buoys, An Act to regulate the fishery in the Pawcatuck River, and many others.
American Imprints 21214; Bartlett, p. 172.
516. [Law.] Acts, resolves and reports [spine title]. At the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, begun and holden by adjournment, at Newport ... on the first Wednesday of May [1841 through January, 1843].. [Providence: publisher not identified, 1841-43.].
$450
8vo, 10 so-called session reports individually paginated, all but three signed in ink at the end by Henry Bowen, as Secretary of the General Assembly, for May, June and October, 1841; January, March, April, May, June and October, 1842; and January, 1843; 10 folding tables; contemporary marbled boards rebacked in tan cloth, preserving the original red and black morocco labels on the spine; a few of the folding tables with splits at some of the folds, generally good and sound.
Apparently, this is Bowen's own copy with his ownership signature at the top of the first leaf in pencil, and in ink just above, "Secretary's Office."
Not found in American Imprints, and with two or three exceptions, not in OCLC.
517. [Law.] One-page manuscript deposition regarding the construction of a carriage by John Lucas, Boston coachmaker. Newport: April 7, 1729.
$500
Folio (approx. 12½" x 8"); countersigned by William Wanton by proxy; watermarked paper, previous folds; near fine.
Adams, formerly of Boston "but now residing in Newport," makes a court deposition about the work of John Lucas and his dereliction of duty in regards to an order of a coach by Capt. George Wanton.
"In the beginning of August last ...being very frequent at the workhouse of John Lucas of said Boston Coachmaker, several times saw Capt. George Wanton come to said Lucas about the Carriage of a Chaise, and several days waited for the same, and at last was disappointed by said Lucas and [was] obliged to take an old carriage of Col. Ellis Hatch ... and to give him £6 for the same, and likewise said Hatch to have the new carriage when finished of Mr. Lucas, and this deponent with another man that worked with said Lucas went to said Hatch & fetched the said Carriage, and about three hours after that said Chaise was hung ... but the said Wanton [?] an old harness for the horse, and this deponent took charge of the chaise & drove the same to Newport ... and that some time before the deponent worked with said Lucas, and heard Dr. Hooper several times enquire of the said Lucas if the said chaise was finished ... and this deponent saith not."
The Wanton family were wealthy ship builders of Newport and William Wanton was governor of the state 1732-1733. George, son of Governor William Wanton, was born in 1694, and married Abigail, daughter of Benjamin Ellery, of Newport.
518. [Law.] At the General Assembly of the State of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, begun and holden by adjournment at Newport, within and for said State, on the second Monday of June ... Present, His Excellency Nehemiah R. Knight, Esq. governor... [drop title]. [Providence: Hugh H. Brown, printer, 1817.] .
$150
First edition, 8vo, pp. 56; stitched, as issued; uncut; some worming in the blank outer margins of the first ten leaves (not touching any letterpress); all else very good.
At the head of the title: June, 1817. Signed in ink at the end by Samuel Eddy, as Rhode Island Secretary of State. Eddy was also the Clerk of the R.I. Supreme Court (1790-93) and a U.S. Representative (1819-25).
Includes texts of acts and resolutions passed during the session.
AAS only in OCLC. American Imprints 41972; not in Bartlett, Park, or Sabin.
519. [Law.] Libel suit of Chief Justice Ames against Thomas R. Hazard. Hon. Joseph M. Blake's argument for Defendant upon plaintiff's demurrer. Providence: A. Crawford Greene, steam book and job printer, 1862.
$75
First edition, 8vo, pp. 38, [2]; self-wrappers, stitched, as issued; very good.
Blake (1809-1879) is buried in Bristol, R.I.
Not in Bartlett. Sabin 5786.
520. [Law.] William Chace and William Davis vs. Tarin and Nanterne. Suit for non-payment of monies due. Nantes, (France): September 6, 1783.
$750
Eleven-page legal document (approx. 9" x 7½") of a judgment from a French court that involved Rhode Island traders.
Providence mariners William Chace and William Davis traded in European goods and were also perhaps sea captains. These documents are entitled "Extract from the Registry of the Recorder of the Royal Seat and Council of Nantes, September 6, 1783. Nantes February 25, 1783. John Ballan senior judge. Appeared Sieur Tarin the younger merchant ... living as Braneas in the Parish of St. Nicholas who presented to us several pieces of which he required the enregistrement by the Recorder to have recours (sic) to in case of necessity and have signed Tarin, Jun., & Nanterne. The following is the tenor of the above pieces ... Debtor Messrs. William Chace & William Davis, Jun of Providence, State of Rhode Island to Tarin Jun. & Nantern for goods delivered for their account to Mr. William Davis Jun in a (?) as a margin." There follows a three-page list of goods which includes several varieties of cloth, gauze, feathers, muslin, mittens, hankerchiefs, stockings, etc. The amount in dispute appears to be at least 4,485 livres.
Also transcribed within the document is a copy of a letter from William Chace to Messrs. Terrez and L'Jeune which states: "The present goes by my sons who will inform you that I have sent to Mr. Jonathan Williams Bills of Exchange by the Ship Donglavez (?) to pay my debt in France. I hope you have received yours before the arrival of the present - I was detained at L'Orient a long time after I left you - and it was near six months before I reached my home in America." (Signed:) "William Chace and William Chace Jun." Apparently, the mariners attempted to make good on their debts but had not made payment soon enough to avoid going into default.
William Chace managed to continue in business after this legal trouble. An advertisement in the Providence Gazette in 1784 shows him selling "a neat assortment of European goods ... at his shop and store, two doors below the market house ... among which are a great assortment of lutestrings, modes and other silks, calicoes, Irish linens, gentlemen and ladies beaver hats ... likewise English and German steel."
521. [Law.] The right of the people to establish forms of government. Mr. [Benjamin Franklin] Hallett's argument in the Rhode Island causes, before the Supreme Court of the United States. January ... 1848. No. 14. Martin Luther vs. Luther M. Borden and others. No. 77. Rachael Luther vs. the same. Boston: printed by Beals & Greene, 1848.
$375
First edition, large 8vo, pp. 71, [1]; neatly bound in later black cloth-backed marbled boards, gilt lettering on spine; ex-R.I. Historical Society with a bookplate marked withdrawn, no external markings; a nice copy preserving the original printed orange front wrapper.
Rhode Island authorities, acting under a decree of martial law (i.e. the Algerine Law), arrested Martin Luther, a shoemaker, for acting as moderator of the Warren town meeting, which was held under the People's Constitution. Luther argued that the declaration of martial law was void because it had been enacted under the charter government, which had been supplanted by the People's Constitution pursuant to a vote of the citizenry. Thus the issue for decision became the legitimacy of the government under the People's Constitution. Opposing Daniel Webster in the Supreme Court, Hallett, the Jacksonian Democrat, argued to uphold the legitimacy of the Dorr government, and protested the imposition of martial law. The suit was joined by Rachel Luther, Martin's mother, who claimed she had been roughed up by Borden and his men who had come looking to arrest Martin in her home.
Hallett was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1819 but spent most of his career as an editor and political operative. "He practiced his profession intermittently throughout his life and was noted for a readiness to champion cases in which he could argue his favorite theory.
Bartlett, p. 94; Sabin 29889.
522. [Law.] Arguments of Thomas A. Jenckes, counsel for respondents in the matter of H. A. Harvey, Charles Ely, and Wm. G. Angell, claimants, vs. The American Screw Company, respondents. In arbitration, before Hon. Samuel Ames, Hon. James Y. Smith, Harvey Waters, Esq. With the paper and evidence submitted. Providence: Knowles, Anthony & Co., printers, 1861.
$150
First edition, 8vo, pp. 113, [1]; top corners lost to pp. 81-96 (no loss of text); original beige printed wrappers; spine partially cracked; all else very good.
With the signature at the top of the front wrapper of one of the judges, "Hon. Samuel Ames." With an inserted p. 48½ (affidavit of Francis A. Dyer), so noted by Ames in the table of contents.
Thomas Allen Jenckes (1818-1875) graduated from Brown University in 1838 and studied law. In 1840 he was admitted to the bar and became partner with Edward H. Hazard. Mr. Jenckes also enjoyed a successful political career, serving many years in the Rhode Island General Assembly. He served also in the United States House of Representatives from 1863 to 1871. After his service in Congress, he again practiced law in Rhode Island and New York, specializing in patent litigations.
Not in OCLC, Bartlett, or Parks.
523. [Law.] Laws and acts of Her Majesties Colony of Rhode Island, and Providence Plantations made from the first settlement in 1636 to 1705. With an introduction by Sidney S. Rider. Providence: Sidney S. Rider and Burnett Rider, 1896.
$625
Edition limited to 100 copies, folio, pp. viii, 65, [1]; 61 leaves of facsimiles of the original manuscript; original printed green wrappers; a bit of damp in the bottom margin of the terminal leaves and back wrap, otherwise fine throughout; contained in a half brown morocco slipcase, gilt-paneled spine in 6 compartments, gilt-lettered direct in 2; lightly rubbed.
This is the first time these laws were ever printed; and the volume contains a facsimile reprint of the original manuscript laws. Bookplate of Frederic S. Peck. Rider was a leading Providence bookseller, publisher and antiquarian who had amassed a collection of manuscript and printed materials documenting the history and print culture of Rhode Island from the 17th through the early 20th centuries, a collection now at Brown University.
524. [Law.] Standing Rules, adopted by the House of Representatives of the State of Rhode-Island ... June Session, A.D. 1828. [Providence]: October 28, 1834.
$300
Oblong folio broadside (approx.13" x 16½"), text in double column beneath the running head; previous folds, neat tape repair on verso closing a 3" tear, a few short breaks at the edges; very good.
Dated in type at bottom, October 28, 1834. Divided into three sections, with Standing Rules "of the speaker," "of decorum and debate," and "of standing committees," with duties for all.
Not in OCLC or American Imprints.
525. [Law.] The proceedings of the first General Assembly of "The Incorporation of Providence Plantations," and the code of laws adopted by that assembly, in 1647. With notes historical and explanatory. Providence: Charles Burnett, Jr., 1847.
$50
First edition, 8vo, pp. x, [1], 12-64; original printed front wrapper present, but loose, rear wrapper wanting; small hole in title page; all else very good.
Staples was a judge in R.I. who asserted the illegality of the Dorrite People's Constitution.
Bartlett, p. 245; Sabin 65849.
526. [Law.] Supreme Court, in equity, March term, 1853. No. 230. Robert H. Ives vs. Charles T. Hazard, Henry A. Middleton, Mumford Hazard. Opening argument for complainant. Providence: Knowles, Anthony & Co., printers, [1853].
$375
8vo, pp. 30; original printed wrappers bound in;
Bound with: Supreme Court, in equity, March term, 1853. No. 230. Robert H. Ives vs. Charles T. Hazard, Henry A. Middleton, Mumford Hazard. Argument for defendants. Providence: Knowles, Anthony & Co., 1855, pp. 127, [1]; original printed wrappers bound in;
Bound with: Supreme Court, in equity, March term, 1853. No. 230. Robert H. Ives vs. Charles T. Hazard, Henry A. Middleton, Mumford Hazard. Closing argument for complainant. Providence: Knowles, Anthony & Co., 1855, pp. 19, [1]; original printed wrappers bound in.
Ownership signature on the front pastedown of William H. Potter, counsel for the defendants, and with a note in his hand at the bottom of page 25 of the second title regarding getting a particular document in writing.
See Sabin 35314.
527. [Law.] The bill in equity between the Lonsdale Company, complainants, and Miles G. Moies, respondent. Council for complainants, William H. Potter, Esq. Samuel Ames, Esq. William Binney, Esq. Council for respondent, Thomas A. Jenkes, Esq.. Providence: Knowles, Anthony & Co., 1855.
$500
Thick 8vo, pp. 643, [5]; original printed front wrapper bound in;
Bound with: United States Circuit Court. Rhode-Island District. In Equity the Lonsdale Company vs. Miles G. Moies. Opening argument for complainant. A.D. 1855 [wrapper title]. pp. 31, [1];
Bound with: In the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Rhode Island. The Lonsdale Company vs. Miles G. Moies. In equity. Argument of T. A. Jenckes for the defendant. Final Hearing on pleadings and proofs. Providence: A. Crawford Green & Brother, 1856, pp. 66;
Bound with: In equity the Lonsdale Company vs. Miles G. Moies. Closing argument for complainant. Providence: Knowles Anthony & Co., 1857, pp. 267, [1]; together 4 volumes in 1, contemporary half sheep over marbled boards; front joint cracked, sheep depraved; internally fine.
These from the library of the council for the Lonsdale Co., William H. Potter, with his ownership signature on the front pastedown, the front wrapper of the first title, and the front wrapper of the second title with the added note: "I delivered two copies at the office of Hon. A. Jenckes, Jan. 11, 1856."
The decree of the court was that the complainants were confirmed in their right and title to divert and use the water of a certain stream through a canal for mill or other uses subject to the right of the respondent do use the water of said river for irrigation only.
Oddly, none found in OCLC or Bartlett.
528. [Law.] The public laws of the State of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, as revised by a committee, and finally enacted by the Honourable General Assembly ... To which are prefixed the charter, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution ... and President Washington's address of September, 1796. Providence: printed ... by Carter and Wilkinson, and sold at their book-store, 1798.
$300
Thick 8vo, pp. 652; contemporary full sheep, scuffed and rubbed, red morocco label on spine; front flyleaves loosening, small crack starting at the top of the upper joint; all else good and sound, or better.
Ownership signature with a drawing of John Gladding, 1805. The fifth revision of Rhode Island law, but the first since the Revolution, and these are the first printed laws of Rhode Island since becoming a state.
Alden 1581; Bartlett, p. 172; Evans 34453; Sabin 70626.
529. [Law.] Memoirs of the Rhode-Island Bar. Boston: Thomas H. Webb & Co., 1842.
$125
First edition, 8vo, pp. xii, [1], 14-311, [1]; original blindstamped brown cloth, gilt-lettered spine; top of spine and back board chipped, lightly worn at the edges, else very good.
This copy with a presentation from the author to the Supreme Court Justice "Hon. Judge [Nathan] Clifford with the respects of the author."
A detailed account of the development of the legal profession in Rhode Island, with biographies of 15 Rhode Island attorneys general from 1721-1825: Henry Bull, James Honeyman, Daniel Updike, Augustus Johnson, Oliver Arnold, Henry Marchant, William Channing, Henry Goodwin, Rouse J. Helme, John Cole, Archibald Campbell, Jacob Campbell, James M. Varnum, Mathew Robinson, and Robert Lightfoot.
American Imprints 4948; Bartlett, p. 262: Cohen 8524; Sabin 98030.
530. [Lease - Market Square.] Indenture of lease between Gould & Parkis and the City of Providence for premises at Market Square. Providence: December 1, 1845.
$125
Printed pro-forma document approx. 6¼" x 7½", accomplished in ink; signed by Stephen Tripp, City Treasurer and William F. Greene, Witness. Some toning, very good. Together with a reproduction of an engraving of Market Square, ca.1844.
Gould & Parkis were butchers who operated out of Providence's Market House, which was built in 1773 by Nicholas Brown, and the site of a tea burning in 1775. Ebenezer Gould, born in 1805 in Massachusetts, was one partner and John S. Parkis, born in Connecticut the same year, the other.
The lease states that they rented stall number nine in the Market House for one year for $120. The end of the lease adds, "Gould & Parkis covenant they will render up to said City the quiet and peaceable possession of said stall in good order -- fire and unavoidable accidents and usual wear excepted."
John Spaulding Parkis was a representative from Providence for Thomas W. Dorr's People's Constitution in 1842.
531. [Lincoln, Abraham.] Proceedings of the City Council of Providence on the death of Abraham Lincoln: with the oration delivered before the municipal authorities and citizens, June 1, 1865. Providence: Knowles, Anthony & Co., printers, 1865.
$100
8vo, pp. 56; original printed blue wrappers; a few chips at the edges, spine partially perished; all else very good.
Binney was a prominent Providence lawyer and banker.
532. [Lincoln.] Historical sketch of the town of Lincoln, in the state of Rhode Island. Central Falls: E. L. Freeman & Co., steam book, job and lithographic printers, 1876.
$100
First edition, 8vo, pp. 26; original printed gray wrappers; 2 small slivers from the corners of the upper wrapper; all else near fine.
Compiled and written by Welcome A. Greene, under the direction and advice of Charles Moies, Alfred H. Littlefield and George A. Kent, a committee appointed by the Town Council of Lincoln to provide a historical sketch of the town, in accordance with the recent proclamations of the president of the United States and the governor of the state of Rhode Island.
533. Six-page autograph manuscript, signed "CL" being an autobiographical sketch. [Cranston?]: September 4, 1822.
$750
Three leaves torn from a notebook (each approx. 5" x 8"), watermarked paper, in ink and quite legible.
A first (?) draft of the original autobiography of Christopher Lippitt, given by him to the Rhode Island Historical Society at its inception in 1822. The autobiographical sketch is likely the original draft of the one presented to the Rhode Island Historical Society at their general request for such items in 1822.
Interestingly, Benjamin Cowell, in his Spirit of '76 in Rhode Island published in 1850, wrote: "A few hours ago we had an autobiographical sketch of Col. Lippitt put into our hands, which he had prepared at the request of some of his relatives, written in his plain and unostentatious style, commencing with his early life. This sketch we were obliged to part with, and to use as evidence after his death in the prosecution of some claims of his family on government, on account of his military services in the Revolutionary war. We regret this, as this sketch would have been very interesting to our readers." (Proceedings of the Rhode Island Historical Society, 1872, p. 303).
That said, the RIHS claims accession #1823.5 [Lippitt Family Papers Mss 538] to be the Christopher Lippitt Memoir and currently states on their website that "The 1822 Christopher Lippitt memoir is the earliest known manuscript donation to the RIHS that can still be identified in the collection." So, somehow, they must had reacquired either it or a copy.
534. Statement of accounts of Christopher Lippitt Esq to Rufus Hopkins. Scituate: 1774-1779.
$650
Large folio sheet (approx. 15¼" x 12¼") with previous central fold thereby making 4 pages, docketed "Chris. Lippitt Esq. Acct. from Rufus Hopkins 1774 settled." Signed "Rufus Hopkins, Scituate, February 3, 1779." Toned, many other folds with small holes at the intersections, no loss; generally very good and legible.
A long list of debits and credits between Rufus Hopkins and Christopher Lippitt made between May 9, 1774 and October 29, 1776 (resolved by Rufus Hopkins errors excepted in 1779). Items shown are foodstuffs, buckram, buttons, ribbon, scissors, needles, nutmeg, sugar, a set of knives and forks, and lots of molasses and rum. There are references to Mother, Brother, your Negroe boy, Peleg Williams, Thomas Watson, Charles Watson, David Nightingale, and others.
Rufus Hopkins (1727-1813) was the son of Stephen Hopkins (1707–1785), one of the two Rhode Island signers of the Declaration of Independence. Hopkins was employed in managing the Hope Furnace for almost 40 years; it produced pig iron and, during the Revolution, cannon and ball. The Lippitt family owned the land that was sold to the owners of Hope Furnace in 1785.
Lippitt owned a sawmill and a farm and was recorded as having six slaves in the 1774 census and two slaves in 1790 census, In this document there are at least four references to a "Negro Boy."
Together with: "Christopher Lippitt Esq. in Acct. Current with owners [of] Hope Furnace" with docket on the verso reading "Furnis Account Settled with Capt. Hopkins 1783." Single leaf (approx. 7½" x 12") folded in half to make 4 pages; charges includes "Carting ore from Cranston," "one load of dung for Moulders," and several others, all in the hand of Christopher Lippitt and signed by Rufus Hopkins, dated Scituate, Dec. 29, 1783.
535. Private Journal P. W. Lippitt [spine titles], for the Lippitt Woolen Company. Woonsocket: 1845-1900.
$2,500
2 volumes, 4to, attractive full black pebble-grain morocco, triple gilt borders on covers, gilt-paneled spines in 5 compartments, gilt-lettered direct in 2; very good, sound, and legible.
Volume 1: February 6, 1845 to April 18, 1900, 336 pp., plus 4 loose ledger pages. Volume 2: Accounts 1848 to 1899, 174 pp. plus blank leaves at the back. Alphabetical index (with tabs) at front, plus some printed sheets of taxes from the U.S. Revenue Service in 1868, and two loose ledger pages. 9 x 11.5 inches. "Private Journal P.W. Lippitt" in gilt letters on spine.
Comprehensive business ledgers and stock records from the Lippitt family of Rhode Island. Peleg Wilbur Lippitt was born October 20, 1816, in Griswold, Connecticut, son of Maj. Christopher Lippitt III (a descendant of Christopher Lippitt 1712-1764) and Marcy Gooding Wilbur. He died April 18, 1900 and is buried in North Scituate, Rhode Island. Peleg was a member of the prominent Lippitt family--wealthy cotton manufacturers and politicians. Henry Lippitt became governor of the state. (See DAB).
The first volume contains a hand-written inscription: "This journal is a copy of my first and original journal--rewritten March 1866." We are unable to find the original journal in any collection (although the RIHS has Mss. Coll. 1046 of Lippitt Woolen Company Records, it does not appear to contain accounts). The accounts from 1866 onwards appear to be of the first order. The entries contain cash and expenses, such as purchases of bank stock and salaries of mill employees. One interesting purchase was Weed Sewing Machine Stock in 1869 (p. 117).
Other companies Peleg invested in included American Screw, New Jersey Lighterage, Whipple Gold Mining, Matchless Radiator and many others. Sister Marcia is mentioned as well as daughter Sarah Waldo Rhodes. James T. Rhodes's name (b. ca. 1801), cotton merchant, appears frequently in the accounts. Page 216 shows a "cash to real estate" entry that shows brother "A.D.L."s share in "Uncle Thos. B. Wilbur's" Brooklyn estate "if he had not sold it to me for cash."
The second volume shows cash, interest, expenses, bills payable, stock income and so on. Amounts carried over are as large as $1 million and then some.
The Lippitts' textile interests in Rhode Island were started in 1809 by brothers Christopher (1744-1824) and Charles Lippitt (1754-1845), sons of Christopher (1712-1764) and Catharine (Holden) Lippitt. The younger Christopher was a Revolutionary War officer who engaged in farming after the war. His brother Charles was a Providence merchant. In 1809, the brothers, along with partners organized a cotton mill under the name the Lippitt Manufacturing Company. The company grew into a major cotton manufacturer during the 19th century, with several succeeding generations becoming involved in its operations and administration, and inheriting the benefits of its financial legacy.
536. [Lithograph.] Providence Dyeing, Bleaching & Cal[endring] Co.. Providence: G. A. Hidden & Co., n.d., [ca. 1840s].
$150
Lithograph, approx. 11" x 13", mounted, old shadow from a previous mat in the margins, old tears and creases evident but no apparent loss; good.
The Providence Dyeing, Bleaching & Calendring Co. began its operations on Sabin Street in Providence under the name Patent Calendering and Bleaching Company. In 1842 the company was incorporated as Providence Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendering Company, making official a name that had been in common usage for some time. By 1845 it had acquired a water privilege and industrial building along the Woonasquatucket in the Olneyville section of Providence. Converted for use as a bleachery, this building provided the nucleus for the company’s 19th-century expansion, which included the construction between 1843 and 1875 of a Grey Room, a Packing House, and a Kier Room. In 1885 the company closed its Sabin Street plant, consolidating all operations in Olneyville. The image in this lithograph is of the Sabin St. location.
537. Three autograph letters signed to A.D. Lockwood & Co, textile manufacturers in Slatersville and Providence. New York & Providence: 1843-46.
$475
Quarto and small folio, all bifoliate, with address panels on versos of integral leaves, all with previous folds; very good.
The first, a tightly packed 3-page letter is from Wells & Spring, New York. April 1, 1843, to Mssrs. Lockwood & Co., Slatersville, R.I. regarding sample packages of cotton; the second, from J. G. Dudley, New York. July 9, 1843, to Mssrs. A. D. Lockwood & Co., Providence, RI, regarding power looms and cotton; and the third, from John Butterworth, North Providence, RI. July 18, 1846, regarding the purchase of looms.
The history of the Wauregan Mills, the Quinebaug Company, and other related mills in New England (and eventually in the South) is very much tied to the history of the Lockwood family. These letters to Amos Lockwood at his mill in Slatersville, RI, show the interest developing in New York of the efficacy and popularity of clean well-produced cotton and the use of the recent power loom in the textile manufactory.
Wells & Spring, however, have a complaint about Samuel Slater. Wells & Spring (founder: Gideon Hill Wells), New York City commission agents dealing in cotton goods, write at great length to Lockwood on the importance of quality in his sample bales of cotton. "If the first lots they buy (customers) open well and give good satisfaction & look cheap to them, they become regular customers and afterwards buy with confidence & without scouring through the market to find cheaper goods. We shall thus, we trust, be able to establish channels for all you will send to this market...the goods we recently received from Mssrs. S. & J. Slater are very satisfactory as regards weight & evenness of fabric & thread but the cotton is too specky and we notice a great many black places in the filling caused as our Mr. W. supposes by the dirt & oil from the pickers and the picker rods...which we hope may be avoided in your goods." He goes on to suggest a stamp for the goods advertising them as "Lockwood Family Shirtings" and discusses the practice of the grading of product such as done by "Mssrs. S. S. & Son at their Webster Mill."
The second letter from a Mr. Dudley in New York (possibly Stephen Dudley, b. 1798, and son Joseph, b. 1824, merchants in Buffalo, NY) requests bales of cotton and power looms. Dudley mentions that he has sold "thirty bales of the O'Deans" cotton at 7 cts cash. "The goods to be furnished this month & to be of first rate quality ... I want at least ten bales per week of your goods through the season & perhaps more. Also please send forward some more 'power looms..."
In the third letter John Butterworth writes from North Providence in 1846: "I see in an advertisement that you want to sell 50 4/4 looms. The subscriber in company with another man is running a small mill near Providence called Wenscutt Mill is now making thread but wishes to alter (?) on weaving would like to buy 24 looms if he could obtain them...at about 10 dollars a piece." The owner of the above referenced early thread mill may be Thomas Whipple. "Wanskuck appears in Providence records as early as 1655. The name, also spelled Wanscott, Wenscott, or Wenscutt in old documents is an Indian word perhaps meaning 'low lands.' The area was part of a section of the Providence 'north woods' set off as a separate town in 1765. Residents petitioned to have the new municipality called 'Wenscutt' but officials insisted that it be called North Providence. The Wanskuck Company prospered through the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In 1882 it purchased the Whipple Estate, site of a late cotton mill established by 1835 and known as Thomas Whipple's Factory."
Amos DeForest Lockwood (1811-1884), became involved in the textile industry at the age of 16 when was employed by the store of Peck and Wilkinson. At 21, he became an assistant factory superintendent in Slatersville, R.I., working for Almy, Brown & Slater, the historic firm which had employed Samuel Slater to design the first successful cotton machinery in America in the 1790s. Lockwood quickly advanced by forming A. D. Lockwood and Company which leased the Slater Mills. The company consisted of himself, his brother Moses Lockwood and his brother-in-law Rhodes B. Chapman. A.D. Lockwood & Company accepted numerous projects in New England to build, remodel, or enlarge mills with modernized equipment. Lockwood developed an interest in mill engineering and became known as the "mill doctor." Lockwood also served as agent of the Franklin Company and the Androscoggin Mills.
Lockwood's work at Androscoggin began a chain reaction of lucrative jobs. Beginning with the Francis Skinner mills, next Pepperell, he became consulting engineer to the biggest and best. Finally, in Lewiston he replaced the famed David Whitman who had died. Lockwood was sent to Europe to see the developments there and if they would be lucrative for America. From this trip and his advice such inventions as the slasher, the English fly frames, and the light weight spindle were brought to the American scene.
At age 60, Lockwood moved to Boston to open a consulting firm known as A.D. Lockwood & Co. cotton mill engineers. Amos Lockwood & Co. lives on under the name of Lockwood Greene; America's oldest professional services firm in continuous operation for industrial and power engineering and construction. Headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Lockwood Greene serves Fortune 500 and international companies around the globe.
538. Manuscript "plat of the wharf lot near the bridge, a part of the estate formerly owned by the late James Sabin. Providence: January 4 (recorded January 10), 1826.
SOLD
Folio sheet (approx. 7½" x 12¼"), docketed on verso, and signed by Nathan W. Jackson, Town Clerk, in 1827, and W.R. Staples, Prop. Clerk; previous folds; very good.
The description of this Providence lot bordering Elisha Dyer's land opens with "Laid out to Job Carpenter of Providence a piece of land situate in the town of Providence on the west side of the river containing 1926 square feet on the east side of the seven mile line..."
This was land formerly owned by the "late James Sabin." James Sabin (ca. 1731-1806) is known primarily for the tavern in Providence that he ran at what is now the corner of South Main and Planet Streets, whence forth the mariners in the Gaspee Raid. An inscribed tablet on the Planet Street side of the Gaspee Building reads: "Sons of Liberty--Upon this corner stood the Sabin Tavern in which on the evening of June 9th in 1772 the party met and organized to destroy HRM Schooner Gaspee in the destruction of which was shed the first blood of the American Revolution."
In the early 1780s James Sabin had a store on the west side of the Great Bridge which was distinguished by the sign of General Washington and sold patent medicines and horse saddles. This is likely the plat referred to in this map. From 1800 to 1802 Sabin's house was used as a hairdressing/barber shop. After his death in 1806 Sabin's store was taken over as a liquor, fireworks, and hat store.
Lockwood Street in Providence was named in recognition of the work of Benoni Lockwood, civil engineer and land surveyor, who drew this map.
539. Six manuscript plat maps of Providence's west side. [Providence: ca. 1820s.].
SOLD
1) Corner of Back St. and Smith St., showing a well, and a workhouse, on the west side of the Providence River in downtown Providence in the Smith Hill area; approx. 10½" x 13½";
2) Unnamed streets, but likely Back St. and Smith St. based on position of the workhouse, noting also "S73E in range of church / steeple 400 ft. to river." And with an "Explanation: the red lines denote the Town plat of 1786 on a scale of 200 Ft. to the inch," approx. 12" x 19¼";
3) Elaborate plat showing 38 separate lots with plat numbers, owners' names (Thomas Harris, Henry Reddock, John Lippitt, John Clark, George Shepard, Maturin Ballou, William Olney, William Arnold, etc.), with numerous mathematical calculations in the margins. Judging from the shoreline I take this to be the India Point section on Providence's east side, approx. 13½" x 23";
4) Two very detailed plat maps on both sides of a single sheet (approx. 22" x 13½"), the first showing Back St., Black St., Davis St., Jefferson St., Martin St. and Wenscott Rd,, showing approx. 45 lots with plat numbers, with three long detailed explanations referencing the Randall plat, Camp Hill, Smith's mill, referencing the survey of 1786 and the deed to Randall in 1816; the second showing approx. 40 lots with plat numbers, the large property of William Arnold, Black St., Clayton St., Davis St., Wenscott Rd., Martin St., Orms St., a railway line, John Smith's fence, Potter's New Rd., a bridge, and the elm trees "on west end of bank." Both of these in the Smith Hill area of downtown Providence;
5) Plat map detailing lands owned by the Browns, quoting from the will of Martha Brown bequeathing "two small lots" to Jeremiah Brown on Smith St. which are platted here. This plat map is signed: "Surveyed and platted Sept. 11, 1827 by Benoni Lockwood, scale 100 feet to an inch." This sheet has been punctured in the middle, with tears, but no loss and not touching any of the plat; approx. 20" x 13¼";
6) Large plat map (approx. 19¼" x 27¾") detailing the "transmission of Spruce Swamp and half of Arnold's lot no. 20 claimed by William Olney, Jr. per map of 1724." Citing deeds going back to 1640 and 1662 which shows Arnold transmitting to Olney half the lot and the swamp. The plat shows Wenscott Rd., properties of the Whipple, Sprague, and Waterman families, Arnold's land, Olney's land, and the contested swamp.
Benoni Lockwood (1777-1852) was early on a sea captain, and then later a noted civil engineer, map maker and land surveyor which he continued to do for the rest of his life. In 1819, he drew a map of Rhode Island for Pease and Niles' Gazetteer and Lockwood Street in Providence was named after him.
540. Manuscript survey of a plat laid out to Job Carpenter in Providence. Benoni Lockwood, surveyor, April 19, 1828. Recorded by W. M. Staples, Clerk. Providence: July 29, 1828.
SOLD
Folio, approx. 12½" x 8", with a sketch of the plat at the top; docketed and recorded on verso by Nathan W. Jackson, town clerk; previous folds; very good and legible.
Survey of a plat of land (2121 square feet) on the west side of the river on the east side of the seven-mile line* within the original purchase of the town of Providence near Job Carpenter and Stephen Tillinghast's land. Also includes another piece of land near Washington Street on the original right of William Harris.
Job Carpenter was born in Cranston (1776-1845), the son of Nathaniel Greene Carpenter. He married Mary Westcott and they had a variety store in the Arcade. In 1819, Benoni Lockwood (1777-1852) was a well-known early civil engineer. He drew a map of Rhode Island for Pease and Niles' Gazetteer and Lockwood Street in Providence was named after him.
*This line was established in 1660. It runs north and south from a point supposed to be seven miles west of Fox Hill, though it actually measures more. It is now the dividing line between Smithfield, Johnston and Cranston on the east, and Scituate, Gloucester and Burrillville on the west. It was the western boundary of the early division of Providence town lands.
541. Pro-forma document being a receipt for goods shipped by Aaron Lopez. Newport: Novem. 20, 1771.
$950
Single printed pro-forma sheet (approx. 6" x 7½") accomplished in a neat hand almost certainly by Lopez himself, in ink; generally fine. Signed in full, "Brotherton Daggitt."
Daggitt, (1725-1783) descended from the well-known Martha's Vineyard family, here consigns to the Colonial Newport Jewish trader and merchant, Aaron Lopez, "on his own acct. & risque" 100 barrels of Monhayden [i.e. menhaden], 25 hogsheads of codfish, 12 kegs of pickled salmon, 60 cheeses, 5800 white oak hogshead staves, etc., for passage to the "Windward West India Islands" on Lopez's sloop George, "now riding at anchor in the harbor of Newport."
542. Autograph receipt, signed. Newport: Sept. 3, 1773.
$400
Approx. 3" x 7¼", in ink; previous folds, slight toning; very good; cut from a larger sheet, the left margin unevenly torn with slight loss to the 'B' in 'Bot.'
"Aaron Lopez Bot. of Elisha Eldrige / 12 barrells pickled codfish £264 / deduct 5 hoops £1.5" for a total of £262.5 / received the above in full" and here signed by Elisha Eldrige. Docketed on the verso by Lopez: "Elish Eldridge bill & rect. for 12 bbls. pickled fish. Sept. 3, 1773."
543. Autograph receipt, signed. Newport: Sept. 8, 1773.
$450
Approx. 3¼" x 5", in ink; cut from a larger sheet, uneven margins but no loss; very good.
"Aaron Lopez to Joshua De St. Croix to fraight of 40 bar. beef 2/ £4.0.0 New York currency. Rec. the above contents in full" and here signed by Joshua De St. Croix. Docketed on the verso by Lopez: "Joshua De St. bill for frait 40 bbls beef, Sept. 8, 1773."
544. Autograph receipt, signed. Newport: Sept. 24, 1773.
$450
Approx. 3½" x 6½", in ink; cut from a larger sheet; very good.
"Mr. Aaron Lopez to Peter Vredenburgh ... 15 barrells of fine flour ... 3 barrells com. flour ... 2 casks bread" with individual prices for each barrel and cask, for a total of "£1,026.0.7" Docketed on the verso by Lopez: "Capt. Peter Vredenburgh's bill of 15 bls. Sup., 4 bls. Common flour & 2 casks ship bread, Sept. 24, 1773."
545. One-page autograph document signed. Newport: April 27, 1762.
SOLD
4to (approx. 9½" x 7¼"), previous folds, slight toning; very good.
An 11-line invoice, in ink: "bot of Aaron Lopez" made out to Mr. John Gorton for "1 doz. paper ink potts ... 1/2 doz New Testaments ... 1 doz. seal pen knives ... 1 doz. horn combs ... 1 doz. plain white foot shoes," etc., each with prices affixed, the invoice totaling £73.1.3. Docketed by Lopez on the verso.
See Gutstein, The Story of the Jews of Newport (N.Y., 1936) for an interesting account. Colonial Jewish merchant and shipper, Aaron Lopez was born in Portugal in 1731. He immigrated to Newport in 1752 where he was engaged primarily in the whale oil and candle business, although he also dealt in livestock, groceries, rum, ships, clothing, and slaves. During the 1760s and 1770s, he built an extensive transatlantic mercantile empire and on the eve of the American Revolution, Lopez was Newport's leading merchant and taxpayer. During the Revolution, he supported the colonials and withdrew from British-threatened Newport which greatly diminished his business. He died in 1782 before he could recoup his losses.
546. [Lottery.] 2,000 dolls. Capital prize. By authority of the State of Rhode-Island. To be drawn under the superintendence of the Secretary of Statrt. Rhode Island Lottery. For the benefit of the First Universalist Society in North Providence. Class number vtwo. F. W. Dazna, J. A. Scott, R. S. Gould, managers. Providence: [neither printer nor publisher identified], December 2, 1831.
$850
Narrow broadside (approx. 13" x 5"), announcing the lottery and listing 5051 prizes amounting to $10,643, the grand prize being $2000; docketed on the verso: "Prov. Decem 2 1831 True copy furnished the Secty according to law / P. Case / for the managers." And underneath that: "Secty's office Decem 2 1831 / the within class was drawn this day / Henry Bowen, Secty. / to the Gen Treas of Rhode Island &c." Some show-through from the docketing, otherwise near fine; encapsulated.
The nature of the dockets, showing the trail of this copy from the managers of the lottery, to the Secretary of State (Bowen), to the General Treasurer suggests this was the official State copy of the lottery broadside.
Lotteries were outlawed in Rhode Island in 1732, but were allowed again in 1744 as long as they were approved by the General Assembly. After that, lotteries played a "significant role ... in providing the revenue for public works such as the building and maintenance of roads, ridges and wharves. They were also used by towns as well as civic and religious societies to provide the necessary capital to build school and meeting houses, churches, Masonic halls, and armories" (DeSimone). As here, for the benefit of the First Universalist Society in North Providence.
Not in American Imprints; not in DeSimone, List of Rhode Island Lotteries 18th and 19th Centuries, Middletown, Bartlett Press, 2002.
547. [Lottery.] Manuscript lottery authorization for a bridge and a market-place in Providence. Providence: 1784.
$4,500
Handsome folio manuscript document (approx. 15" x 9"), signed by the six principals. each with their wax seal affixed; one fold repaired; very good.
"Know all men by these presents that we Amos Allen and John Whipple Gentlemen, Samuel Young, Benjamin Comstock, William Wheaton and Jonathan Marsh, Merchants, all of Providence...are held and stand firmly bound and obliged unto Joseph Clarke, Esq. General Treasurer of the State aforesaid, in the Sum of Eighteen Thousand Nine Hundred Pounds, Lawful Money of said State to be paid...Whereas the General Assembly of the State...on the Twenty fifth day of February 1784 Granted a Lottery for raising a sum not exceeding One Thousand Pounds for the purpose of Building a public Market House, for the benefit of the North Park of said Providence and also to build a Bridge at the South Side of the Workhouse Lot over to the Main street in said Providence..."
Signed by Amos Allen, John Whipple, Sam Young, William Wheaton, Jona. Marsh and Benja. Comstock. Accompanied by a Class II lottery ticket (approx. 1¾” x 3¼” – 8 lines of text within a typographic border) for these projects, dated February 1784, signed "Will Wheaton." Lottery tickets are quite scarce from this period; original lottery authorizations are exceedingly rare, and this is a very handsome document.
DeSimone, List of Rhode Island Lotteries 18th and 19th Centuries (Middletown, Bartlett Press, 2002), p. 8.
548. [Lottery.] Two 18th-century lottery tickets. East Greenwich and South Kingston: 1772 and 1791.
$450
Lotteries were outlawed in Rhode Island in 1732, but were allowed again in 1744 as long as they were approved by the General Assembly. After that, lotteries played a "significant role ... in providing the revenue for public works such as the building and maintenance of roads, ridges and wharves. They were also used by towns as well as civic and religious societies to provide the necessary capital to build school and meeting houses, churches, Masonic halls, and armories" (DeSimone).
1) "East Greenwich, August 1772, Baptist Meeting-House Lottery Class first. The Possessor of this Ticket (No. 1153) is entitled to any prize drawn against its number in a lottery granted by the General Assembly of Rhode-Island... [signed:] Wm. Arnold." Approx. 1½" x 3½", text within a typographic border; small piece missing from the upper left corner affecting the border.
2) Pier Wharf Lottery No. 1612. Class First. This ticket entitles the bearer to such prize as may be drawn against its number... [signed:] C. Perry, manager. South Kingston, April 11, 1791." This was to build a wharf at Point Judith. Approx. 2" x 4½", text within a typographic border; small piece missing from the left border affecting the border.
Both of these are listed in Russell DeSimone's List of Rhode Island Lotteries 18th and 19th Centuries, Middletown, Bartlett Press, 2002.
549. Low's Grand Opera House, Providence, R.I. Programme of the first dramatic entertainment given under the auspices of the Brownson Lyceum, Wednesday ev'ng, Jan. 31, 1883. The Colleen Bawn ... Manager, P. J. McCarthy. Providence: 1883.
$150
Folio broadside (approx. 13" x 5¾"), text in a single column beneath the running head; light toning, very good.
Listing the cast of characters for this Irish drama in three acts, made for the benefit of the Brownson Lyceum, as well as a synopsis of each of the three acts, and seat prices. The Irish poet Oscar Wilde had lectured at Low's the preceding September.
550. One week, commencing Monday, Feb. 14, Wednesday and Saturday matinee. Donnybrook. A romantic musical comedy in four acts, written expressly for M. Tony Hart, the inimitable Irish comedian, vocalist and dancer. N.p. [Providence]: n.d. [ca. 1887].
$125
Folio broadside (approx. 12" x 4¾"), text in a single column beneath the running head, light toning, very good.
Listing the cast of characters for this Irish comedy in four acts, a summary of which is appended, as well as a list of the Providence Opera House Orchestra, and an announcement of two matinees, Atkinson's Aphrodite and Peck's Bad Boy.
551. King Philip a play. New York: privately printed [at the Columbia University Press], 1932.
SOLD
First edition limited to 125 copies, 8vo, pp. 41, [3]; original printed orange wrappers; light soiling; near fine.
Inscribed to the Providence architect, Wallis Howe: "For Wallis E. Howe - Dweller in, and beautifier of part of the domain of Metacom. Benjamin R. C. Low, June 25, 1934." Metacom being the Narragansett name of King Philip.
Low (1880-1941) was a Yale graduate and he studied law at Harvard. For many years had an active practice in New York City. As a poet he has published more than a dozen volumes of poetry.
552. Elleanor's second book. Providence: B. T. Albro, printer, 1839.
$650
First edition, 16mo, pp. 128; woodcut frontispiece portrait; original cloth-backed marbled boards, printed paper label on spine ("Ellen's 2d Book") rubbed, with loss to two letters); very good copy.
The author (1805-1878) was an ardent abolitionist and an advocate of women's, voter's, and worker's rights. She lived in Rhode Island, and later Connecticut, and she writes here of a black woman mistreated by the legal system. This is her second book, a sequel, of sorts, to Elleanor Eldridge's Memoirs published in 1838.
Afro-Americana 3443 for the second edition of 1842. American Imprints 56969.
553. Memoirs of Elleanor Eldridge. Providence: printed by B. T. Albro, 1842.
SOLD
16mo, pp. vii, [1], 9-128; frontispiece portrait; original cloth-backed marbled boards; cloth cracking along the front joint, some occasional heavy foxing, but a good, sound copy nonetheless.
With a "Preface to the Second Edition" on p. vi. The author (1805-1878) was an ardent abolitionist and an advocate of women's, voters', and workers' rights. She lived in Providence, and later Connecticut, and she writes here of a black woman mistreated by the legal system. This is her first book, first published in 1838.
This edition not in Afro-Americana or American Imprints.
554. A sermon preached before the First Universalist Society in Providence ... on the evening of the second Wednesday of October, 1821 ... Published by request. [Providence]: Jones & Wheeler, printers, 1821.
SOLD
First edition, 8vo, pp. 16; removed from binding, wrappers wanting, last leaf loose, but present, small piece torn away at top corner of the title page (no loss of letterpress); title a bit soiled, else very good.
OCLC locates the AAS, Brown, Emory and the R.I. and N.Y. Historical Societies. American Imprints 5882; not in Bartlett.
555. Picture of a factory village: to which are annexed, remarks on lotteries. Providence: printed for the author, 1933.
$375
12mo, pp. 144; 2 wood-engraved plates printed on pink paper; original plain muslin-backed paper-covered boards; very good.
Ostensibly, the earliest known antifactory poem. With the bookplate and ownership signature of Geo. C. Nightengale, Jr., director of the American Bank on South Main St., Providence.
Not in Bartlett; American Imprints 19897; Goldsmiths'-Kress 28307.11; Sabin 44185.
556. Songs of Zion or conference hymns, selected and original. To which is added a brief sketch of the author's life and experience. Providence: H. M. Brown, printer, 1831.
SOLD
First edition, 32mo (approx. 4" x 2½"), pp. xiii, [2], 16-224; contemporary full sheep, red morocco label on spine; rubbed and worn, but sound. A third edition was reached by the following year.
OCLC locates the Brown, Emory, Harvard, R.I. Historical, and William & Mary copies only. American Imprints 8123; not in Bartlett.
557. Autograph receipt to Robert Carter for pig iron from James Manning. N.p. [Providence?]: November 14, 1789.
$275
Approx. 7½" x 12¼", central fold with neat professional repair, right margin a little ragged with small loss in the top right corner.
"Robert Carter, Esq. in account with James Manning." James Manning (1738-1791), was the first president of Brown University (then Rhode Island College) elected in 1765. Manning graduated second in his class from the College of New Jersey (Princeton University) in 1762. He was licensed to preach by the Scotch Plains Baptist Church and ordained in 1763.
This receipt, signed while he was president, is likely a bill to the college for a large quantity of building material and shows Manning's business contacts. It is a document to pay Philip and Zachariah Allen freight for 10 tons of pig iron from Baltimore, storage of same, and a commission. Philip Allen (1738-1794) was the master of the Sloop Providence.
The name Robert Carter, shown at the top of the receipt, is very likely Robert Carter of Virginia to whose sons Manning became a foster father and who took them in as boarders so that they could attend college and not be exposed to southern slavery. Carter also funded the college and was a Baptist convert.
The wealthy Robert "Councillor" Carter III (1727/28 –1804), President Manning's associate, was a plantation owner and onetime British government official. After the death of his wife, Frances Ann Tasker Carter, in 1787, Carter embraced the Swedenborgian faith and freed almost 500 slaves from his Nomini Hall plantation and large home in Williamsburg, Virginia. In 1791 he began the process of manumitting slaves in his lifetime. His manumission is the largest known release of slaves in North American history prior to the American Civil War and the largest number ever manumitted by an individual in the US.
558. Charter of the Fellowship Club, instituted at Newport, (R.I.) Dec. 5th, A.D. 1752, and incorporated June 15th, A.D. 1754 : which charter was renewed and altered, by the General Assembly, June 15th, A.D. 1785 : and incorporated by the name of the Marine Society. Newport, (R.I.): printed by Wm. & J.H. Barber, for the Society, 1819.
$500
8vo, pp. 24; engraved frontispiece by Fairman of Providence (marred by ink stains); full contemporary calf, worn; small blank piece lacking from title leaf; stain on early blank leaves.
Contains a list of the members from 1752 to 1819. Sectional title page for Laws of the Marine Society at p. [9]; with several contemporary ink annotations in the margins, including five names added to the membership list at the back.
Fairman is not found in Hamilton's Early American Book Illustrators and Wood Engravers. A 1906 Goodspeed catalogue notes of David Fairman (1782-1815) that "this is the only example of the engravers work I have seen. Stauffer says that “none of his work has been found.”
American Imprints 48586; Hammett, p. 90; not found in Bartlett.
559. [Maritime.] Before the Most Noble and Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of Appeals in prize causes. The John Jay, John Flagg Fry, master: an appeal from Bermuda: Appendix . [London?]: Keating, Brown and Co., [1806].
SOLD
Folio, pp. 81, [1]; unbound sheets simply stitched; verso of final leaf bears the title; occasional early marks of readership; edgewear and a previous central fold; very good.
"The claim of John Bowers, of the State of Rhode Island ... and supercargo of the ship John Jay, John Flagg Fry, Master, on behalf of Brown and Ives of Rhode Island ... the true, lawful, and sole owners and proprietors of the said ship and her cargo ... at the time of the capture thereof by his Majesty's ship of war Driver, Robert Simpson ... and brought into the harbour of St. George in the said Islands of Bermuda ... also on behalf of Asa Leonard, Thomas G. Gwinnell, William Carter, and Jeremiah F. Jenkins, of Rhode Island aforesaid ... sole owners and proprietors, in different proportions of the residue or other part of the said cargo ... Ship John Jay and cargo."
Clements and RI Historical only in OCLC.
560. [The genealogy of the family of Martins.]. Providence: Hugh H. Brown, printer, [1816].
$1,500
4to, pp. 12; but for the printed prefatory letter from the author to his mother, the widow Martha Martin, dated Providence, November 11, 1816, the text is in double column throughout; woodcut tailpiece; a few contemporary ink corrections in the text; original plain paper wrappers restitched at an early date; oil stain pervades the entire text in the gutter and extending into one column of text; frayed, with old fold & short break affecting a few letters; good.
A genealogy of the Martin and Wheeler families. Just to mention two members of the family, Silvanus Martin--father and son--both served in the Revolutionary War, and the son served in the General Assembly of Rhode Island. The first American printed genealogy appears to be Luke Stebbins' Genealogy of the Family of Mr. Samuel Stebbins, published at Hartford in 1771, with 24 pages. Whitmore (The American Genealogist Catalogue of Family Histories, 3rd edition, 1875) identifies only a few others prior to this, and two or three of those are single sheets which, in some instances (all?) are just lists of names. This may be the third or fourth printed genealogy of substance; another in pamphlet form was published the same year.
The family papers at the R.I. Historical Society "relate to Silvanus Martin Jr. (1748-1818) and his close relatives. Silvanus Martin Jr. was born in Rehoboth, Mass., and later settled in East Windsor, Connecticut. He finally settled in Providence, whence he served in the Revolution as a lieutenant, and was later a representative to the R.I. General Assembly in 1790 ... Silvanus married Amey Brown (1749-1833) in 1774. She was the daughter of William Brown and Susanna Dexter, and was apparently not a close relative of the famous Brown brothers of Providence. She had ten children, and then outlived Silvanus by fifteen years."
American Imprints 38144a (AAS only). Not in the comprehensive LC catalogue of English and American Genealogies. OCLC locates LC (purchased after 1919), AAS, Harvard, Brown, and the Mass. and R.I. Historical Societies.
561. Newport and its cottages. [Boston: James R. Osgood & Co., 1875.].
$3,500
First edition limited to 100 copies, very large 4to, 109 guarded leaves, printed on the rectos only; 45 full-page heliotype plates, plus occasional text illustrations; full original black morocco stamped in blind and gilt; rebacked with the original spine laid down; endpapers renewed; slight worming in margins of a few early leaves, occasional foxing, extremities worn; all else very good and sound.
Hammett, A Contribution to the Bibliography and Literature of Newport, R.I. (1887), p. 123: "The views are taken from nature; and the other illustrations are copied from pen-drawings. All are printed by the Heliotype Process, and are, in effect, photographs printed in printer's ink on an ordinary printing-press. They are as permanent as an engraving, and are far more accurate than anything that could come from an engraver's burin."
"To Messrs. James R. Osgood & Co., the publishers, Mr. Ernest Edwards, the inventor of the Heliotype Process, and Mr. George A. Coolidge, who has had charge of the printing and binding, my thanks are due for the interest they have taken in the work, and the facilities they have afforded me in bringing it out." "The edition has been limited to one hundred copies." (Preface).
As the heliotype process is not known to have been used in printing books before 1872, and only then in England (Darwin's Expressions of Emotions in Man and Animals; a somewhat inferior edition was published in America by 1873. Osgood actually obtained rights to the heliotype process while in Germany and brought them back to Boston in September 1872. By early 1873 had obtained the cooperation of Harvard to "plate" the Gray Collection of Engravings, and work proceeded quickly. By the end of 1873 he had "nearly two dozen presses devoted to heliotype work," writes Carl Weber in the only biography of Osgood, The Rise and Fall of James Ripley Osgood (Colby College Press, 1959). Edwards was certainly the head of the operation; an illustrated explanation he wrote is on the web: The Heliotype Process, (Osgood 1876).
In fact, Edwards, who published a book on the heliotype process in London in 1874, actually emigrated to the United States where he developed a process which printed the collotype from a copper plate instead of glass, "which perhaps explains why the Muybridge plates [done in 1887] have a surface more like gravure than collotype" (The Truthful Lens, p. 46). The Photo-Gravure Company of New York, which did Muybridge's Animal Locomotion, was founded by Edwards.
Mason, an architect, was educated in Newport, and from 1851-58 edited the Newport Mercury. For 30 years he was a director of the Redwood Library. In 1848 he published Newport and Its Environs, with 12 lithographs, Newport Illustrated (1854; republished in 1875, 1891 and 1897), and the work we offer in 1875 (not at auction in over 30 years). A very rare, splendid, important work on the Newport summer homes of the great and near great, chiefly from New York, but also from Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and a few from Rhode Island.
562. [Masonry.] The secrets of Masonry illustrated and explained; in a discourse, preached at South-Kingstown, before the Grand Lodge of the State of Rhode-Island; convened for the installation of Washington-Lodge, September 3d, A.L. 5799. Providence: printed by Brother Bennett Wheeler, [1799].
$250
First edition, 8vo, pp. 15, [1]; 20th-century brown cloth-backed marbled boards, gilt-lettered direct on spine; title page guarded, small stain in the top gutter margin throughout; all else very good.
On the verso of the last leaf: "Benjamin J. Sheffield his book bought December 23 AD 1799 price P. 4½."
This discourse by a clergyman indicates the comfort of the clergy with Masonry at the turn of the century.
Alden 1614; Bartlett, p. 77-8; Evans 35310.
563. [Masonry.] Daily Advertiser and American - Extra ... Memorial to the General Assembly, from the Antimasonic State Convention, Read January 12. And referred to a select committee. Providence: January, 1831.
$500
Large folio broadsheet (approx. 21" x 15¼"), text in 6 columns to a side; old folds, slight browning, some spotty foxing and stains.
The first 5 columns are given over to the "Memorial" which is signed in type by Walter Paine, Jr., secretary, and approximately 65 other citizens. The remaining seven-plus columns are devoted entirely to contemporary antimasonic intelligence from sources in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and western New York. There is even a letter from a committee in Coosada, Alabama requesting information on the Morgan affair from prosecutor John C. Spencer, with his lengthy reply.
This "Extra" not found in OCLC.
564. [Masonry.] Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of the state of Rhode Island, for the year ending June 24, A.L. 5857, being the 66th anniversary. Providence: Sayles, Miller & Simons, 1858.
$125
First edition, 8vo, pp. 48; original printed tan wrappers; near fine.
Not found in OCLC or Bartlett. See Sabin 70584.
565. [Masonry.] Address of the Grand Lodge of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, to the people of said state. Pawtucket: S. M. Fowler, printer, 1831.
$200
First edition, 8vo, pp. 14, [2]; self-wrappers, stitched, as issued; some spotting and toning, old sticker at the top of the title page, else very good.
"Fellow Citizens, We have examined a "Memorial from the Anti-Masonic Convention" assembled at Providence, and bearing date Dec. 29, 1830; and finding ourselves therein implicated in general with other Masonic bodies, we deem it an imperious duty to ourselves, to our institution, and the community, to come forward in our own behalf, and in behalf of the Lodges under our jurisdiction..."
American Imprints 7141; Sabin 70584; not in Bartlett.
566. [Masonry.] History of Freemasonry in Rhode Island ... together with a full account of the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island, held June 24, 1891. Memorial volume published by authority of the Grand Lodge. Providence: E. L. Freeman & Son, state printers, 1895.
$75
Thick 8vo, pp. xx, 869, [1]; numerous portraits throughout, including many steel engravings; original blue cloth, gilt-stamped arms on upper cover, stamped in gilt on spine; front hinge tender but not separated; a very good and sound copy.
567. [Masonry.] An official report, by William Sprague, Jr. one of the committee of the House of Representatives of Rhode-Island, upon the subject of Masonry. Providence: printed at the office of the Daily Advertiser, 1832.
$225
First edition, 8vo, pp. 23, [1]; self-wrappers, stitched, as issued; light chipping and text toned; all else very good.
"Sprague was a dissenting member of the [Legislative] Committee. The Committee held that Masonic secrets, such as signs, grips, words, etc. were of no importance, while Sprague insisted that such secrets should be made public. His report is also interesting as showing the result of the coalition between the Democrats and Anti-Masons of Rhode Island." In an appendix, Sprague claims that the Committee learned that there was a new order of Masonry, not previously revealed by Bernard or Allyn.
Boston Public, AAS an NY Historical in OCLC; American Imprints 14513; Bartlett, p. 244; Sabin 89720.
568. [Massasoit.] Massasoit of the Wampanoags, with a brief commentary of Indian character; and sketches of other great chiefs; tribes and nations; also a chapter on Samoset, Squanto and Hobamock, three early native friends of the Plymouth colonists. [Fall River, Mass.]: privately printed [at the Plimpton Press, Norwood, Mass.], 1920.
$50
8vo, pp. [8], vii-xi, [5], 270; tipped in at the front is a presentation leaf (dated 1919) from the Massasoit Memorial Association; original embossed red cloth stamped in gilt on upper cover and spine; near fine.
Massasoit (ca. 1581-1661) was the head of the Wampanoag confederacy who formed an alliance with the Plymouth colonists to help ward off attacks from the Narragansetts who controlled the lands to the west of Narraganset Bay. Massasoit himself lived in the east bay, near Warren, R.I. It is said that through Massasoit's assistance, the colonists avoided starvation during their early years.
569. A sermon, preached September 14, 1796, at the dedication of the Meeting-House, belonging to the Catholic Baptist Society in Cumberland. Providence: printed by Carter and Wilkinson, and sold at their book-store, opposite the market, 1796.
$150
First edition, 8vo, pp. 22, [2]; removed from binding; text toned, spotty foxing; else very good.
Taking as his text Genesis XXVIII:17, "There is none other but the house of God; and this is the gate to Heaven." Maxcy was at this time pastor of the First Baptist Church in Providence and president of Rhode-Island College, later Brown University (1804). He subsequently served as president of Union College and, for many years, South Carolina College (later the University of South Carolina). See the entries in DNB and ANB Online.
Alden 1474; Evans 30780; not in Bartlett.
570. An address delivered to the candidates for the Baccalaureate in Rhode-Island College, at the anniversary commencement, September 2, 1801. Wrentham, (Mass.): printed by Nathaniel Heaton, Jun. Sold by David Heaton, Providence, 1801.
$125
First edition, 8vo, pp. 20; wrappers wanting, the whole a little toned; very good.
American Imprints 913; Bartlett p. 50; see Sabin 47005.
571. An address delivered to the graduates of Rhode-Island College, at the anniversary commencement, in the Baptist Meeting House in Providence, September 5, A.D. 1798. Providence: printed by Carter and Wilkinson, 1798.
$125
First edition, 8vo, pp. 12; stitching loosening, gatherings loose; all else very good.
Alden 1565; Evans 34085; Bartlett p. 184; Sabin 47005.
572. A sermon, preached in the Baptist Meeting-House in Providence, before the Female Charitable Society, September 21st, 1802. Providence: printed by B. Wheeler, 1802.
$175
First edition, 8vo, pp. 13, [3]; later marbled wrappers; near fine.
Contains Paul Allen's "Ode Performed before the Female Charitable Society, September 20, 1802" on the final leaf.
American Imprints 2642; Bartlett, p. 184; Sabin 47005.
573. An oration, delivered before the Providence Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers, at their annual election, April 13, 1795. Providence: printed and sold by Bennett Wheeler, 1795.
$150
First edition, 8vo, pp. [2], 17, [5]; wrappers wanting; very good.
Appended, with a separate title page is Hymns Performed at the Anniversary Election of the Officers of the Association.
Alden 1422; Evans 29053; Bartlett p. 183; Rink 460; Sabin 47005.
574. [Medical.] Ship fever, so called; its history, nature, and best treatment. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1850.
$150
First edition, 8vo, pp. [4], 48; 1 tinted lithograph plate; dampstain on front flyleaf, spine cracked and partly perished at the top and bottom; a good copy in original wrappers, printed paper label on the upper cover.
Inscribed in ink on the label: "Presented to W. H. Davol by his friend J. W. C. Ely 1850." Ely is almost certainly James Winchell Coleman Ely (1820-1906), a prominent Providence physician. He was born in Windsor, Vermont, graduated from Brown University in 1842, and received his M.D. from Harvard in 1846. He was consulting physician at several public institutions in Providence, and was active in professional associations.
Issued as no. XII, June, 1849 as part of the Fiske Fund prize dissertations of the Rhode Island Medical Society.
Cordasco 50-0365; Sabin 13297.
575. [Menu - Bristol Bicentennial.] 1680. Bi-centennial of the town of Bristol. 1880. [Bristol?: Bi-Centennial Committee, 1880.].
$50
Broadsheet (approx. 6¾" x 4"), folding down to a small bifolium (4" x 3¼"), printed on blue card printed in gilt and black with a Chinese motif and the town seal on the recto and the menu on the verso: fish, meats, salads, cake, ices, fruit, and drinks.
An attractive and undoubtedly rare little ephemeron.
576. [Menu - Pomham Club.] You are cordially invited to attend a genuine Rhode Island shore dinner, to be given on Friday, October 7, 1887, at half past one o'clock. Pomham Club, Narragansett Bay. [Providence: Livermore & Knight, 1887.].
$100
Vertical bifolium (approx. 6¾" x 4"), printed in sepia on stiff buff card, wax seal attached on the front, p. [3] with a menu offering 6 courses and 35 choices, including quahaugs, broiled bluefish, lobster croquettes, fried eels a la tartar, and macaroons. Fine condition.
The Pomham Club, defunct by 1920, was in East Providence.
577. [Menus.] The Mile Post. Two Mile Corner, Newport, R.I. Routes 138 and 114. [Newport: 1943.].
$40
Bifolium (approx. 11" x 8"), illustration on the front of the U.S.S. Constellation in front of the U. S. Naval War College, pp. [2] and [3] with lunch and dinner menu under 7 headings (sea food plates, steaks, chicken chops, etc., Mile Post Specialties, sandwiches and desserts; stapled to p. [3] is a mimeograph sheet offering special luncheons, and specials for today (lobster, lobster salad, and filet of sole crossed out in pencil); p. [4] with drinks and ice cream. Fine condition.
578. [Menus.] The Town Room. Providence Biltmore. [Providence: Saturday & Sunday, January 23-24, 1943.].
$50
Two bifoliate menus (approx. 10½" x 8"), full dinner menus printed in red and black with bar suggestions, a notice on rationing, and the evening's entertainers; 2 small adhesion marks on the back, else fine.
"Because of wartime restrictions, we can serve only one portion of butter and one cup of coffee with each meal. Please do not ask for more."
579. Life in Carolina and New England during the nineteenth century. An illustrated reminiscences and letters of the Middleton family of Charleston, South Carolina and of the De Wolf family of Bristol, Rhode Island. Bristol: privately printed, 1929.
$325
First edition limited to 500 copies printed by D. B. Updike at the Merrymount Press, Boston; 4to, pp. xii, [2], 233, [1]; 50 plates; near fine in original brown cloth, gilt-lettered spine.
An important collection of family letters giving much historical information relating to life in the South, as well as personal recollections of the Middleton family, including Arthur Middleton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Lafayette’s visit to America, early social life in Charleston, the Civil War, destruction of the Middleton home, and other events are described in a most interesting manner.
The family records include also those of the Marston Family as taken from the reminiscences of Annie E. N. De Wolf written in 1857.
580. [Middletown.] An historical sketch of Middletown, R.I. from its organization in 1843, to the centennial year, 1876. Newport: John P. Sanborn & Co., Mercury Steam Printing House, 1876.
$100
First edition, 8vo, pp. 48, xiv; original printed gray wrappers; old library sticker in the lower corner of the front wrapper, else near fine.
Not in Parks.
581. Settlement of Rhode Island. What cheer? Illustrated by Walter F. Brown. Providence: 1874.
$125
First edition, oblong 4to, 15 leaves printed on rectos only, illustrated throughout in lithography; previous owner's bookplates, near fine in original pictorial blue cloth, upper cover stamped in gilt and black.
Water Francis Brown was born in Providence, RI. He was a painter and illustrator whose specialty was scenes of Venice. He graduated from Brown University in 1873 and studied in Paris. He was a member of the Providence Art Club, and he was one of the illustrators for A Tramp Abroad by Samuel Clemens.
582. [Mining Prospectus.] Grey Wolf Mining Company (incorporated). Authorized capital, $500,000. 500,000 shares par value, one dollar. Mines at Johnston, R.I. Office: 86 Weybosset St.. [Providence: 1903.].
$75
Oblong 12mo (approx. 4¾" x 5½"), pp. 24; 5 full-page illustrations from photographs; original gray wrappers printed in blue; near fine.
Platinum was found and "the property has been examined by expert mining engineers who claim there is nothing like it east of the Rocky Mountains." We doubt this venture ever came to pass.
Not in OCLC.
583. A short account of the early part of the life of Mary Mitchell, late of Nantucket, deceased. Written by herself. With selections from some other of her writings; and two testimonies of Monthly-meetings of Friends on Rhode-Island and Nantucket, concerning her. New York: printed by R. & G.S. Wood, for the Trustees of Obadiah Brown's Benevolent Fund, 1830.
SOLD
First edition, 16mo, pp. 72; contemporary and likely original full sheep, gilt-paneled spine; some rubbing, previous owner's bookplate; good and sound.
Born in Newport, R.I., married in Providence, Mary Mitchell moved to Nantucket in 1787. The publication of this edition was paid for by the Obadiah Brown Fund, which was founded in Providence in 1823 by bequest of Obadiah Brown "to be a fund, independent of New England Yearly Meeting, to enhance the Religious Society of Friends through grants to individuals and Friends organizations, and specifically for 'the printing and disseminating of useful books for the promulgation of the gospel and by that means, as well as, otherwise spreading our Religious Principals where they are little known'.”
Obadiah Brown was the son of Moses Brown, the founder of the Quaker School in Rhode Island (i.e. Moses Brown), and the nephew of John Brown, founder of Brown University. The original bequest from Brown was $100,000, said to be the largest single bequest to an institution of learning up to that time. The Obadiah Brown Fund exists to this day.
American Imprints 2605; Sabin 49706 for the first edition of 1812.
584. Medical sketches: in two parts. The first American edition. Providence (R. Island): by Carter and Wilkinson, and sold at their book and stationery store opposite the market, 1794.
$275
8vo, pp. vi, [2], 271, [1]; contemporary full calf, red leather label on spine; joints starting, text toned; good and sound.
Alden 1368; Austin 1330; Evans 27344.
585. [Moses Brown School - Quakers.] Autograph book containing approximately 68 autographs, among whom John Greenleaf Whittier, evidently collected by a student at the Friends' Boarding School in Providence, R.I., now Moses Brown. Providence: 1859-61.
$450
8vo, 51 filled-in pages, some pages with several signatures, others have been left blank; the flyleaf has inscription "Mattie from Nellie 1859." A publisher's pebble-grain morocco binding with "Autographs" in gilt on the upper cover, a.e.g.; the spine is perished, 2 or 3 gatherings extended or loose, the whole shaken. A title page, also in gilt, identifies J. C. Riker (New York) as the publisher.
In addition to J.G. Whittier's signature, this autograph book contains primarily the signatures of staff and students at the Friends Boarding School in Providence, also known as the New England Yearly Meeting boarding school. The school was first established in 1784, and was the precursor to the present day Moses Brown School. Among the first signatures are Joseph and Gertrude Cartland, the principals at the school. Most signatures include the home city of the signer.
The first signature is that of John P[arker] Hale (1806-1873), United States Senator from Dover, New Hampshire, and among the earliest to make a stand in the Senate against slavery. He writes a few lines; "reprise not at any chastening, bear bravely every burden, & rejoice in every trial, however severe...the great lesson of life to know thyself." One of the next signatures is "S. E. Whittier" (Sarah Elizabeth?), or Elizabeth S. Whittier (b. ca. 1836), the twenty-four-year old matron of the school. It is unclear whether or how she is related to the poet.
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) was an influential Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery. His signature appears as "John G. Whittier 2wk 6th mo 1859." Given his affiliations, it is not surprising that he visited the school, perhaps appearing for the June graduation ceremony. Students at the school were from prominent, many wealthy, Quaker families. The names of several of the Parrish family of Philadelphia appear; Lydia, Hannah, and Sarah. They are likely the half sisters of the noted reformer Helen Parrish (1859-1935) whose work (with Hannah Fox and The Octavia Hill Association which was involved in housing reform for Philadelphia's poor blacks) is well known. "Hannah Fox and Helen Parrish were both prominent Quakers and social activists. Parrish was so passionate about the social component of her work that she would actually go into tenants' apartments to remove liquor bottles and insure other values of thrift, sobriety, and cleanliness" [n.b.: Helen's signature does not appear]. [http://www.octaviahill.com].
Other signatures include Daniel Dana Patten, a Boston lawyer and teacher for two years at the school; Samuel T. Satterthwaite of New Jersey, and Franklin E. Paige, associated with Haverford College (notable Quaker college near Philadelphia), as well as Henry Lunt (1842-1887), a Harvard attorney, plus Mary and Elma Dame of Newport and Mary Emma Congdon of Providence, as well as the mysterious "Bashie Y. Horey" of Boston, of whom we can find no further. There were several students from Mozambique (listed in the 1860 census), perhaps reflecting the school's missionary ties.
"Mattie," the keeper of these autographs, may be Martha Rodman, daughter of Daniel and Eliza A. (Brown) Rodman of South Kingstown, Rhode Island -- "Mattie" being a nickname for Martha. She is shown in the 1860 census as being a student at the school. The Rodmans were Quakers who lived on the estate "Mooresfield," and engaged in the manufacture of woolens. Martha later became a school teacher.
586. "The New England Yearly Meeting Boarding School Providence R. Island.". N.p., n.d. [likely Providence: ca. 1830s - 1840s].
$750
Original primitive watercolor of Moses Brown School (approx. 6¼" x 12"); small hole in the lower left corner, dampstains; good and attractive.
On the verso the signature in ink of "Rachel Steere." Found in an 1836 Moses Brown catalogue.
587. Catalogue of the officers and pupils of Friends' Boarding School, Providence, R.I. for the year ending fourth month, 1842. Published by the Lyceum Phoenix. Providence: B. F. Brown, printer, 1842.
$175
12mo, pp. 11, [1]; self-wrappers, stitched, as issued; lower corners with slight loss (not affecting any letterpress), some slight soiling and staining; all else very good.
A note on the library informs us of "A valuable collection consisting of Friends' books and scientific and miscellaneous works, the bequest of that benevolent patron of the institution, and of learning, the late Obadiah Brown, has, by a previous a provision in the will of the venerable Moses Brown, received a large addition. This library now contains one of the most extensive and valuable collections of Friends books in the country."
These books are still on site at Moses Brown, a most cherished and valuable asset.
AAS only in OCLC. Not in American Imprints or Bartlett.
588. Catalogue of the officers and students of Friends' Boarding School Providence, R.I. for the year ending 2d. mo. 1st., 1836. Providence: printed by B. Cranston & Co., 1836.
SOLD
12mo, pp. 20; original salmon wrappers; stitching renewed at an early date.
Old ink inscriptions at the top of the front wrapper of "Anthony Steere, Providence, R.I. 1836." Anthony Steere and three of his (presumed) brothers, all from Burriville, show up in the list of students.
Not found in OCLC, American Imprints, or Bartlett.
589. [Moses Brown School.] Centennial history of Moses Brown School 1819-1919 ... with an introduction by Rufus Matthew Jones. Providence: Moses Brown School, 1919.
$25
8vo, pp. xviii, 178; frontispiece portrait, full-page map and 54 illustrations on 35 plates; original pictorial beige cloth; spine sunned, binding a little soiled, but a good, sound copy.
590. Journal [of accounts]. Bristol, R.I., [et al.]: 1841 - 1850.
$2,250
Folio, 198 pages; mild dampstaining to the first 15 leaves, pages 2-5 in light blue ink, the balance in sepia; completely legible except at the tops of pages [3-5] where the damp obscures; contemporary calf-backed marbled boards, the covers loose, but present.
Several pages of accounting are laid in, including a letter addressed to Nathaniel Coggeshall of Bristol stating accounts of May, 1840 with a Fall River postmark; and to the same Coggeshall, also with accounts, September 1843, with a New London postmark. Also, a large and neat folio accounting of "Amount Stock on Hand October 22, 1849," which bears directly on this journal (see below).
Nathaniel Coggeshall was Mosher's brother-in-law. Mosher's name appears nowhere in this journal, except for his mention of paying rents to the Mosher estate. His name has been attributed because of his being owner and master of the ship Aquetnet (see Ship Documents of Rhode Island, Bristol - Warren 1773-1939, Providence: National Archives Project, 1941, pp. 16-17).
A ten-year record of revenue and disbursements of William Henry Mosher of Bristol, R.I. (1798-1866), a sea captain and merchant. Much of the accounts relate to his ship the Aquetnet and various voyages to Africa, St. Helena, Canton, Charleston, Liverpool, Gothenberg, New Orleans, Mobile, and Havana and this journal accounts for his debits and credits for a variety of goods and services, including "outfit disbursements at Havana," "for bill of health made by Russian Consul," insurance, wharfage, commissions on freight, customs house charges, cigars, salt, tobacco, oranges, bread, chicopee, sheet copper, nails, wood, oil, apples, and one box of China palm leaf fans.
Among his accounts are Charles Tyng (1801-1879), the famous sea captain and merchant, John Gilliat & Co., Fall River Iron Works, Gardner Willard, Sheldon C. Lewis, the Baring Brothers of London, Crocker Brothers, Phillipps & Tiplady, John Taylor, and Robert Rogers. He draws cash for expenses for children, for the passage of seamen from Fayal, for rent at the Mosher estate.
Beginning in September of 1849 and going to May of 1850, the last 21 pages of this journal, much cash is withdrawn for expenses relating to a voyage to California. Some expenses were related to advertising so he likely was taking passengers: Caleb Gilmore, Charles Gilmore, Frederick Hilberg, and William Stirling are names that are mentioned as paying money to him. Also, for the "freight of Sewell & Mead." Mosher sells his "old canvas sails," although there is no mention of his purchasing new ones. The Aquetnet turns up in San Francisco April 4, 1852, after having been, apparently, in Hawaii.
Quoting from his obituary in the Bristol Phoenix of January 4, 1867: "Captain Mosher was the son of the late captain Abner Mosher, one of the most prominent and enterprising shipmasters of his time. His first voyage was made in the capacity of cabin boy on board the celebrated privateer Yankee in the year 1813, Captain B. K. Churchill. He attained the highest rank of his profession of shipmaster, which position he occupied for more than 30 years, sustaining throughout a character for intelligence, enterprise, and integrity scarcely equaled. He became a Master Mason at Saint Albans Lodge, Bristol, of which his father was a founder, that fraternity conducting the services at his grave. I am informed that he served a number of times as Treasurer of the Lodge. The privateer Yankee captured many prizes and its cabin boys came back well to do. Therein, doubtless, lies the secret of Captain Mosher‘s continuing success. He loved books, wrote a fine hand, and one only wishes his logbooks might be found."
591. [Mount Hope Bridge.] Construction of Mount Hope Bridge. Camera studies [wrapper title]. [Bristol: Emilie F. Connery, 1929.].
$75
Oblong 12mo, pp. [40]; illustrated throughout with photographic illustrations; also with lists of contractors, engineers, and bridge statistics; fine in original purple wrappers printed in yellow.
Foreword by Charles P. Sisson.
592. [Mount Hope Bridge.] Dedication ceremonies of the Mount Hope Bridge. On the Mount Hope Bridge connecting the Providence and Newport highways at Bristol and Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Thursday, October twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine. [Providence: Hayley & Sykes Co., 1929.].
$125
Folio, pp. [8]; double-page artist's rendering of the span; original terracotta wrappers printed in black with a gilt and black label tipped on; fine, in the original mailing envelope which is brittle.
With a program of events, specifications, lists of contractors, and engineers. Laid in, as issued, is an octavo broadside, "Dedication Exercises," with 2 illustrations. At the time the bridge was built it was the third largest suspension bridge in the country.
Brown, Redwood Library, and Roger Williams only in OCLC.
593. The R. I. Schoolmaster. Three issues, as below. Providence: William A. Mowry, publisher, no. 9 Washington Buildings, 1858-59.
$150
Volume IV, no. IV (June), volume IV, no. VI (August), and volume V, no. II (February), each approx. 50 pages, each with adverts at the back offering books and educational supplies; all near fine in original printed gray, tan, and terracotta wrappers, each bearing a wood-engraved vignette of the Narragansetts greeting Roger Williams.
Among the contributors are S. S. Greene, J. B. Angell, and Daniel Goodwin. William Augustus Mowry (1829-1917) studied at Brown University 1854-57, from which he received an honorary Master of Arts in 1866. He also served as Superintendent of Schools in Salem, Massachusetts. For many years he was engaged in educational work in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Begun in March, 1855, The R. I. Schoolmaster united with other journals in January 1875 to form the New England Journal of Education, later the Journal of Education (Boston) of which Mowry was also editor.
594. Some legends of Mount Hope. [Bristol]: printed for private circulation [by] George D. Flynn [and] R. F. Haffenreffer, Jr., [1915 or before].
$125
First edition (copy no. 154 of an unspecified edition), small 8vo, pp. 61, [1]; vignette title page printed in blue and orange, pages ruled in orange throughout; original pictorial wrappers; leather stitching partially broken but the binding remains sound; very good.
Ownership signature of Fern Dixon Leahy, 1915, wife of U.S. Senator Edward L. Leahy. Includes an Introduction; The visits of the Northmen; Massasoit, Edward Winslow and John Hampden; King Philip and Captain Benjamin Church; and, William Bradford and George Washington.
OCLC notes only the second edition of 1915 plus a modern reprint.
595. [Music.] A discourse on the life and death of Oliver Shaw. Boston: Charles C. P. Moody, 1851.
SOLD
16mo, pp. 39, [1]; original blindstamped brown cloth lettered in gilt on upper cover; fine.
Shaw was among the earliest American composers. He was born in Newport and started his musical career in Boston and in Providence where he remained an important musical figure until his death. His publications include five volumes of his own music and contributions to others.
596. Report of the Joint Special Committee of the General Assembly of Rhode Island appointed to examine into the fisheries of Narragansett Bay. May session, 1870. Pawtucket: Nickerson & Sibley, book and job printers, 1870.
SOLD
8vo, pp. 158, [2]; original printed gray wrappers; spine ends a little chipped and wrappers a bit soiled, else very good.
Includes interviews with many anglers and shellfishermen.
597. [Narragansett Bay.] Narragansett Bay. Its historic and romantic associations and picturesque setting ... Illustrated with fifty drawings by the author and with numerous photographs. New York & London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, 1904.
$85
First edition, 8vo, pp. xii, [2], 367, [1]; title page printed in red and black; folding map and numerous illustrations on plates; very good copy in original blue cloth stamped in gilt on the upper cover and spine, t.e.g., pictorial pastedown on upper cover.
598. [Narragansett Bay.] Balloon and panoramic views of Narragansett Bay. Providence: published by J. C. Thompson, 269 Westminster Street, 1882.
SOLD
8vo, pp. [4] ads, 56, [4] ads; folding map, illustrated with wood engravings throughout; original pictorial front wrapper printed in black and red; front wrapper neatly reattached, rear wrapper wanting; last couple of pages dog-eared; all else very good.
J. C. Thompson is described on the front as an "engraver on wood," and "a publisher of maps of Rhode Island."
599. [Narragansett Bay.] Log of the good ship Wabun of the Newport Yacht Club from July 6 - 9, 1909. .
$425
8vo (approx. 8" x 5¼"), pp. [8], approximately 2 dozen small vignette illustrations accomplished in pen and ink, and watercolor; near fine.
A matter-of-fact log of a pleasure cruise in Narragansett Bay from Newport to Wickford, East Greenwich, Bristol, and return. Wonderful, primitive vignette illustrations depicting sights along the way, where they tarried ashore, the Updike Hotel, weather conditions, and nautical motifs such as anchors, wheels, buoys, and the Bristol and Newport Yacht Clubs burgees.
600. [Narragansett Bay.] Narragansett Bay illustrated in a series of pen and pencil sketches. Providence: Ferrin & Hammond, printers, n.d., [ca. 1875].
$200
32mo, pp. 71, [1]; numerous wood engravings in the text, several full-page; original pink pictorial front wrapper a little worn, spine a little chipped; rear wrapper wanting; mostly very good and sound.
Merrill has a full-page ad in Edwards' 1866 Chicago directory offering his services as an engraver upon wood. The present pamphlet offers numerous wood engravings of (mostly) seaside scenes, lighthouses, etc.
OCLC locates AAS and Brown only.