Recent Acquisitions
May 6th, 2025
To order call toll-free at (800) 441-0076 or 651-290-0700
or email rulon@rulon.com
or, click on the "add to cart" link to order through our website. Phone calls and emails are generally quicker.
All books are guaranteed genuine as described, and are returnable for any reason during the first week after receipt. If you are returning an item, please let us know so we can make it available to another customer.
Shipping and handling charges are extra and billed at cost.
A note on OCLC
As is now the norm, OCLC counts are tentative, at best, as we recognize that searches using different qualifiers will often turn up different results. Searches are now further complicated by the vast numbers of digital, microfilm, and even print-on-demand copies, which have polluted the database considerably, making it difficult, without numerous phone calls or emails, to determine the actual number of tangible copies. Hence, even though the counts herein have been recently checked, most all should be taken as a measure of approximation.
1. Pearls of the Pacific - being sketches of missionary life and work in Samoa and other Islands in the South Seas. London: London Missionary Society, 1907.
$50
First edition, 8vo, pp. 192; frontispiece, map, and illustrations in the text throughout (some full-page); pro-forma presentation plate of the London Missionary Society on front free endpaper; near fine in original pictorial red cloth stamped in white and black.
Based on the author's three years as a missionary in Samoa.
2. The Mongol chronicle Altan Tobči. Text, translation, and critical notes. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1955.
$95
8vo, pp. x, 205, [1]; uncut and largely unopened; fine in original printed mustard wrappers.
The Altan Tobchi, or Golden Summary, is a 17th-century Mongolian chronicle written by Guush Luvsandanzan. It is "one of the most important Mongol historical texts. Its value lies less, however, in the contribution it brings to our knowledge of Mongol history than in its literary merit. Though permeated by Buddhist elements, it remains sufficiently unaltered to be considered as a true product of the Mongol spirit. It is also interesting from the linguistic point of view. Compared with 'classical Mongol', which is basically the language of the Buddhist texts, the language of the Altan tobči shows a usage much looser, often considerably altered by the penetration of vernacular elements" (Cambridge University).
3. Nick of the woods, or the Jibbenainosay. A tale of Kentucky. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Blanchard, 1837.
$400
First edition, 2 volumes, 12mo, pp. vi, [1], 14-240, [12] ads; [4] ads, 246, [8] ads; original blue cloth, paper labels on spines; labels dull, boards a bit spotted, light foxing, volume I slightly skewed; a good, sound copy.
"Noted today for its savage depiction of Native Americans, it was Bird's most successful novel and a best-seller at the time of its release. The novel was eventually published in twenty-three editions in English, and four translations, including a best-selling German translation by Gustav Höcker" (Wikipedia).
American Imprints 43260. BAL 1160 (with ads as above, but different colored cloth); Jillson, p. 99; Wright I, 322.
4. Yüan thought: Chinese thought and religion under the Mongols. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982.
$75
First edition, 8vo, pp. xiii, [3], 545, [5]; fine copy in a fine dust jacket.
"The Yüan, or Mongol, era (1260-1368) presented both great challenges and unusual opportunities for Chinese civilization. Although totally subdued by an alien conqueror and exposed to foreign ideas and influences from the larger, multi-cultural empire of the Mongols, China and its traditions survived with impressive vigor. The ten papers included in this volume emerged from a conference on Chinese thought under Mongol rule, which was sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies to open up this neglected field of intellectual and religious history. The papers address areas of thought and religion that, in response to alien rule, reaffirmed the classical heritage, while providing the basis for further intellectual growth in the Ming and Ch'ing periods. Yüan Thought focuses on the Yüan literati's attempts to repossess and rejuvenate the indigenous traditions-Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism -- through adaptation and syncretism" (jacket blurb).
5. Autumn in paradise: a journey through New Zealand. N.p. [Denver?: the author], 1987.
$90
4to, ff. [3], 75; printed from typescript; full-page map; fine in contemporary faux brown morocco. Inscribed, "Dear Marion, May God's blessing be with you all your days. Dave Clarke, S.J."
An extensive journal kept by a Jesuit priest during April and May, 1987, on a visit to New Zealand.
Not found in OCLC.
6. Letters of J. Downing, Major, Downingville militia, second brigade, to his old friend Mr. Dwight, of the New-York Daily Advertiser. New York: Harper Brothers, 1834.
$250
First edition, 12mo, pp. viii, [2], 245, [2], 236-240, 9, [7]; contains 29 "letters," with 28 listed in the table of contents; frontispiece and six plates; original brown muslin, paper label on spine; boards faded and rubbed, dampstain in gutter, text foxed, good.
Much of the text, written in feigned backwoods dialect, centers on the National Bank controversy. See Sabin 84162 under Seba Smith, where this title is identified as a Seba Smith clone: "The wide interest which the Jack Downing letters created during the president's eastern tour in the summer of 1833 brought into the field many imitators, among whom a rival whose success was even greater than that of Mr. Smith. This was Charles Augustus Davis... " See Sabin 84162-8 for a long and interesting account of Seba Smith, his imitator, Murray, and their shared alter ego, Maj. Jack Downing.
Wright 1, 827; Sabin 18779.
7. Kalpacintāmaṇiḥ of Damodara Bhaṭṭa: an ancient treatise on tantra, yantra, and mantra. [Sanskrit text in Devanāgari and roman scripts, English translation, yantric diagrams (72), introduction and index]. Delhi: Eastern Book Linkers, 1979.
$75
First edition, 8vo, pp. xxii, 160; fine copy in original red cloth stamped in red on spine, preserving a fine dust jacket.
"The present book, edited from a rare manuscript, pertains to ancient tantric rites which usually come under the head of şatkarman (sixfold activities) such as (1) Subjugation of persons, (2) Attraction, (3) Immobilization of enemy, fire, snake, etc., (4) Liquidation of enemy, (5) Eradi-cation of enemy from home, (6) Pacification of an evil, or release from captivity. To these is added one more dissension (vidveşana), creating division among the ranks of the enemy. The book describes the procedure of these activities. Various alternatives are offered and the aspirant can select any. Yantras and mantras are quick in effect. The text and translation are self-explanatory. The aspirant need not approach an adept for guidance. To understand technique, the editor has appended a glossarial Index. He has prefixed an introduction for general guidance. Beside an appendix of 72 Cakras (practical devices) followed by details, the book contains an akadama cakra which foretells whether the experiment under-taken will come out successful" (jacket blurb).
8. Chandra and Damaru: boys of Nepal. By H. Kathmandu: [Devendra Kumar Sharma], Sagarmatha Prakashan, [1967].
$150
First edition, 7" x 4¾", pp. [4], 151, [1]; 7 illustrations in the text by Amir Man Chitrakar and Bishnu Bahadur Singh; original gray pictorial wrappers printed in green; very good, sound, and clean. Published in an edition of 1000 copies in June, 1967. Issued as E-1 in the publisher's Yeti Paperback series.
Juvenile fiction for boys: Chandra and Damaru are two village friends who live in the remote jungle of Eastern Nepal. One day they decide to run away to Kantipur and this is the story of their adventures.
Madan Mani Dixit (1923-2019) was a Nepalese writer, journalist and novelist. His novel Madhabi is widely considered to be a classic in Nepali literature. [He] "wrote with clear perspectives in mind. He drew from past experiences of his study of Sanskrit, philosophy, and history to write stories and novels flavored with scholastic insights. He believed that the most important aspect of story writing was not the style one writes in, but the feelings one is able to convey. One should be able to create an atmosphere suited to the period depicted" (Library of Congress).
Of this edition, only Oakland University in Michigan is listed in OCLC. This is also the earliest work of Dixit's listed in OCLC, although as a prolific journalist and an editor, this can hardly be his earliest publication.
9. Album ... Cover and drawings by Joe Brainard. [New York]: Kulchur Press, [1969].
$125
First edition, small 4to, pp. 176; illustrated throughout, pictorial endpapers; original wrappers; spine faded and creased, else a very good copy.
This copy inscribed to Allan Kornblum, founder and proprietor of both the Toothpaste Press and the Coffee House Press: "222,222,222.00 For Allan, 'move to Silhouette City,' Love, Kenward 4/25/79 Minneapolis." With Kornblum's ownership signature at the top, and another signature of Kenward Elmslie on the title page.
10. The Countess Ida. A tale of Berlin. By the author of "Norman Leslie," "Dreams and reveries of a quiet man." &c. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1840.
$250
First American edition, 2 volumes, 12mo, pp. 270; 250; original blue cloth, paper labels on spines; boards a bit spotted, light foxing, volume I slightly skewed; a good, sound copy.
With the ownership signatures of J. D. Fay, and rubberstamps of Henry A. Fay, teacher of music in Mount Vernon, almost certainly relatives of the author.
First published in London earlier the same year in 3 volumes under the title The Countess.
BAL 5698; Wright I, 934.
11. The true English grammar: being an attempt to form a grammar of the English language, not modelled upon those of the Latin, Greek and other foreign languages. Boston: Munroe and Francis, 1827.
$300
First edition, 18mo, pp. 180; drab boards backed in blue roan; boards scuffed, offsetting in text, some foxing, especially to endpapers, good.
A second "part" titled The true English grammar, founded on authority as well as propriety was published in 1829 and is not present here.
Something of a precursor to the modern descriptivist approach, but lest the title lead one to believe that this is a true monograph on descriptive grammar against an alien prescriptivism, Fowle's work oversteps on the side of a return to what he perceives as strict Anglo-Saxon or Middle English rules, and reinvents some base elements of grammar on its behalf. In addition to re-defining the concepts of tense, verb, adjective, and noun, he abolishes adverbs and all irregular past tense verbs, and makes a litany of corrections or elaborations on the historical purpose of "indeed," "instead," "just," etc., all with etymological notes, but with questionable application for modern usage.
Fowle (1795-1865) by the age of six "had memorized Caleb Bingham's Young Ladies' Accidence, and at ten had received the Franklin Medal for proficiency in grammar ... In 1821 he was called upon to organize and teach a school of 200 children ... By employing the novel monitorial system by which the more advanced children aided in teaching the more backward, he gained such success that in a year's time his school won high commendation ... In this school Fowle introduced blackboards, map drawing, spelling lessons and by an act even more radical, he abolished corporal punishment" (see DAB III, 561).
In 1823 he established the Female Monitorial School which "was probably the first school in the country to have scientific apparatus adequate to illustrate the subjects taught." He was author of more than 50 books, mostly on scientific subjects, and his newspaper essays number more than 500.
12. Minnesota products. The magazine with the thin, flappy record. Issue 4. Minneapolis: Minnesota Products, [ca 1976].
$200
Floppy vinyl record enclosed in 9½" x 9½" printed envelope; the envelope printed with an illustrated cover and track list; a few short tears and some toning on the sleeve, the contents not inspected as the envelope remains sealed, as issued, though some peeking reveals what appears to be a relief printed card sleeve and vinyl on the inside.
From an article in Insider Magazine's July 1976 issue: "Minnesota Products is an idea that has been developing for a couple of years in the mind of Carl Franzen, who makes money in advertising and spends it (part of it anyway) on music. Carl got together with George Hansen, owner of the Symposium and Flashlight record labels, and Bob Zeller (whose name you may recall in connection with the album 'Heavy Gunz,' a Midwest underground classic of a few years back) to work out the feasibility of the project."
The magazine was envisioned as a non-profit project, and highlighted artists, mostly musicians, "who haven't chosen a strong commercial route. Listeners can look forward to hearing jazz, original compositions and traditional forms like blue-grass, folk and blues." All acts were local to Minnesota.
Given the date of the announcement and the projected release schedule, Issue 4 was likely released in late 1976 or early 1977.
The artists featured include Howard Mohr, the John O'Brien Ensemble, Steve Tibbetts, Albatross Quartet, Ann Reed and Judy Foster.
The Insider article announces this project as "The world's first magazine on record," and we are at least not aware of any earlier projects. And outside of a Chinese database entry for this exact issue and a couple of mentions of the magazine in musical retrospectives, the series is entirely obscure. OCLC records 3 copies of issue three, 1 of issue 2, and separately what may be a full run of issues 1-4 at the Minnesota Historical Society.
13. Trout and salmon fishing in Wales. London: printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman, 1834.
$225
First edition, 12mo, pp. [12] ads dated February 1837; xix, [1], 223, [1]; wood-engraved vignette title page, 9-page Welsh glossary of words and phrases at the back; original green cloth, printed paper label on spine; label rubbed but still legible, cloth bubbled on the lower board; very good, sound, and clean.
Westwood & Satchell, p. 112.
14. Moses resisted. A poem, in twelve cantos. Nashville, Tenn.: Press of Haynes & Camp, 1881.
$100
First edition, 8vo, pp. 129, [1]; original brown cloth, gilt-stamped spine; a small mark on the front free flyleaf and previous owner's bookplate; very good, bright, and sound.
Inscribed by the author in pencil on the flyleaf, "With the compliments of W. T. Helms, Nashville, Tenn." One small correction in pencil in the table of contents, likely authorial.
15. The history of the supernatural in all ages and nations and in all churches Christian and pagan demonstrating a universal faith. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1863.
$200
First American edition published together with the London, 12mo, 2 vols. pp. 519, [3]; 500; original burgundy cloth; spines sunned, textblock a touch cocked, flyleaves lacking, text clean and sound, very good.
Howitt and his wife Phoebe made their living producing a litany of non-fiction books on a wide range of topics "The 180 books which the Howitts produced between them have not worn well, but in his own day Howitt's blend of history, topography, spirituality, and democratic politics was immensely popular. A contemporary riddle asked, 'What authors do you think of first when you see a burning library? Dickens, Howitt Burns!'" (DNB)
Sabin 33378.
16. History of the Mongols from the 9th to the 19th century. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1876, 1888, 1927, 1940.
$500
First edition, 4 volumes in 5, 2 folding maps laid in; original printed wrappers bound in; 20th-century red cloth, gilt-lettered spines; very good, sound, and clean. Occasional pencil annotations, bookplates removed from the inside of the wrappers on volumes 2-5. The third and fourth volumes are the 1927 and 1940 Beijing reprints, each with chopmarks on the verso of the title page; and the fourth volume has a small release stamp on title page.
Part I. The Mongols Proper and the Kalmuks. Part II. The So-called Tartars of Russia and Central Asia. Part III. The Mongols of Persia. Part IV. Supplement and Indices
17. Catalogue of the library of the India Office. London: printed by Eyre and Spottiswoode, printers to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, 1888.
$100
8vo, pp. [4], 567, [1]; original brown cloth, gilt-stamped spine; near fine. Without the separately printed Index and Supplements.
This is the first in a series of catalogues that ran until 1937. It is the only catalogue of western books in the India Office. Other volumes included books in Sanskrit, Hindistani, Hindi, Panjabi, Pushtu, Sindhi, Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, Marathi, Gujarati, and Persian languages.
18. War and Peace: the evils of the first, and the plan for preserving the last. New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1842.
$350
First American edition, 12mo, pp. [8] (ads), 101, [5]; full blue cloth, gilt title on spine; spine lightly sunned, text foxed, contemporary acquisition number in gutter of p. 3, residue of what looks to be an old paper dust jacket on pastedowns, good and sound.
An influential moral essay authored by a prominent American abolitionist and anti-war activist.
"It is difficult to estimate the exact influence of any book or pamphlet. The ideas stated in Mr. Jay's little work appear, at least to the writer of this comment, to be so reasonable as to suggest themselves to negotiators without being specially called to their attention. It is very difficult to say when an idea first took definite form and shape and, in describing a proposition of one, we often overlook another worthy person whose claims should be borne in mind.
"Without attempting to claim for William Jay the authorship of what is now familiarly termed in French ... compromissoire, it is believed that a clearer and more statesmanlike formulation of it than his is not to be found, and, without attempting to maintain that Article XXI of the treaty between Mexico and the United States is due to Jay's proposal, it is interesting to note in this connection that Jay's little book appeared in 1842, just six years before the conclusion of the treaty between Mexico and the United States, that it was widely circulated in the United States as well as in England, that its distinguished author was deeply interested in the relations between Mexico and the United States, and well informed as to their relations as evidenced by his admirable book entitled A Review of the Causes and Consequences of the Mexican War, published a year after its termination, and that he was a man of great influence, due not only to his family connections, but to his own ability, integrity and high ideals" (Scott, "Mexico and the United States and Arbitration." 1916).
19. [Kentucky.] Constitution, ordinances, and code of ethics of the American Medical Association. With a sketch of Louisville. Louisville: Hann & Co., 1859.
$175
First edition, 18mo, pp. 104; limp brown cloth, gilt title on upper cover, a.e.g.; spine sunned, lower free endpaper perished with some paper adhered to lower pastedown, owner's signature of James C Mangly of Rushville Indiana on upper free endpaper, flyleaf and title page dampstained, good.
Bylaws, amendments, etc. The sketch of Louisville covers pp. 79-94.
Eastern Kentucky University, University of Kentucky, and U. Mich. in OCLC.
20. Painted images of the Enlightenment: early Tibetan thankas, 1050-1450 ... with a foreword by Pratapaditya Pal. [Mumbai]: Marg Publications, [2010].
$350
First edition, large 4to, pp. 220; illustrated in color throughout; fine copy in a fine dust jacket.
"Ever since the publication of Giuseppe Tucci's monumental book on thankas in 1949, early Tibetan thankas have fascinated scholars. In 1984, when Pratapaditya Pal wrote his groundbreaking book Tibetan Painting, probably fewer than 50 of these 11th-14th-century Tibetan paintings on cloth were known. Since then over 300 early thankas have appeared. These works provide a plethora of new data for the art historian, and their study has transformed our understanding of their iconography and chronology as well as our knowledge of early Tibetan history and monasticism. However, there has as yet been no book devoted to the subject. This volume will be of value to experts in Tibetan art, to art historians wishing to integrate Tibetan subjects into their teaching, and to the growing body of amateur admirers of Tibetan thankas" (jacket blurb).
21. Kleinere Schriften von Berthold Laufer. [Edited by Hartmut Walravens]. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1976-1985.
$300
3 volumes in 5, thick octavos, original printed wrappers; generally fine throughout. Text in English and German.
I: Publikationen aus der Zeit von 1894 bis 1910 (2 vols. ); II: Publikationen aus der Zeit von 1911 bis 1925 (2 vols. ); III: Nachträge und Briefwechsel. Issued as nos. 2, 7, and 13 in the publisher's Sinologica Coloniensia series. Volume III published by Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden GmbH, Stuttgart.
This is a comprehensive collection of many of Laufer's essays and related documents.
"When Berthold Laufer came to The Field Museum in 1908, he was one of the few scholars in America who could speak and write the Chinese language fluently. He made the study of the Chinese language and culture his life's work. "I have come to love the land and the people," he once wrote. "I feel myself to be better and healthier as a Chinese than as a European." As Curator of Asian Ethnology in the Department of Anthropology at the Field, he made two major expeditions to China in 1908 and 1923, and his acquisitions form the core of the Museum's Chinese collections" (Lasting Impressions, Field Museum).
22. [Locke, Richard Adams.] The celebrated "Moon Story," its origins and incidents; with a memoir of the author. New York: Bunnell and Price, 1852.
$300
First edition, 16mo, pp. 143, [1]; blindstamped brown cloth, with a faded image of a man in the clouds on front cover; upper joint split, spine chipped at head and tail, endpapers foxed but text clean and sound, good.
A post-mortem of the Moon Story hoax, after its exposure, by a close acquaintance of Locke, the perpetrator. The first part describes the context and process of the hoax, in which Locke claims that an unnoticed article in the Edinburgh Journal of Science (actually defunct at the time) described civilization on the moon. The account cites Edgar Allan Poe's account of the reception, where he describes the most incredulous shockingly to be the most ignorant or disinterested, and the more learned the individual, the more susceptible. "A grave Professor of Mathematics, in a Virginia college told me, seriously, that he had no doubt of the truth of the whole affair!" Poe's claim that Locke's account was a plagiarism of his "Hans Phaall" isn't mentioned. This is followed by the full text of the original hoax.
Sabin 28839.
23. Control of microflora and related production of mycotoxins in stored sorghum, rice and groundnut ... Final technical report: Grant No. FG-IN-320, Project No. A7 -MQ-12 (1966-1972). Mysore (India): Infestation Control and Pesticides Discipline, Central Food Technological Research Institute, [1975].
$40
5 parts in 1; 8vo, pp. xvi, [4], 28, [2]; [4], 33-74, [4]; [4], 79-106; [2]; [4], 111-175, [1]; [2], 103; numerous plates and tables (3 folding); original gray cloth printed in black on upper cover and spine; previous ownership signature on front free endpaper, else near fine.
Part I: Literature Review and Scope of the Investigation; II: Ecology of Fungal Deterioration; III: Survey and Analytical Methods; IV: Fungicides and Gaseous Sterilisation; V: Selected Bibliography on Grain Storage, Microflora and Mycotoxins.
24. Poems and ballads. Baltimore: John W. Woods, 1865.
$200
12mo, pp. [2], 161, [1]; original green cloth, gilt title on spine; light wear to extremities, some spotting in text, very good.
Among the general cliches of pretty girls, the weather and the local geography, are a number of poems on the politics of the day, including the emancipation of Maryland, the assassination of Lincoln, draft dodgers and "National Treasury Vampires." The author does not appear to have published anything but this small collection. He also appears to have no biography, but in his introduction he places himself in Ashland, just north of Baltimore.
While a digital copy sourced from the British Library is ostensibly on record, investigation leads to a scan of a completely different title, and no physical copies seem located in OCLC.
Not in Sabin. Allibone Supplement, p. 1038.
25. The betrothed of Wyoming. an historical tale. Philadelphia: sold by the principal booksellers, 1830.
$150
Second edition, published the same year as the first., 12mo, pp. 231, [1]; original boards backed in muslin, paper label on spine, textblock untrimmed; boards soiled and dampstained, joints starting, text foxed, contemporary ownership signature on pastedown, fair.
McHenry was an Irish-born American who established a career as an author and critic. He wrote mostly novelizations of American History, and "he was among the first writers to work with American patriotic themes" (DAB). His short-lived American Monthly Magazine published Henry Wadsworth Longfellow early in his career. The Betrothed of Wyoming is a colonial era novel depicting the strife between Tories and Americans, and saw three editions in its first year of publication.
Wright I, 1750.
26. [Midnight Paper Sales.] Hole in the donut. Scrape 22. [Stockholm, Wisconsin]: Midnight Paper Sales, 2025.
$1,800
Edition limited to 60 copies, 55 of which are for sale; oblong 4to, 14 french-fold leaves on Japanese paper, with 7 color wood engravings, including 2 double-page, one unbound, as issued; simply bound, and contained in a clamshell box 10" x 12½". From the prospectus: "When Henry David Thoreau died in 1862 he was ten years into a practice of recording the natural phenomena of his Concord home, a practice that culminated in a series of charts he referred to as his 'Kalendar.' Three years ago I began doing the same here in the wilds of western Wisconsin, but instead of turning to books as the source of information regarding species identification, as was the case with Thoreau, I turned to an iPhone 13.
"Hole in the Donut is the result of a residency in the Florida Everglades during the summer of 2023. On my first evening there my phone identified a bird in a tree as a penguin ... Seven french-folded sections wrapped in a 2-foot long, 6-color wood engraving of the sun setting over Scrape 22 and [six] other engravings with poetry, biological conversation & a scurrilous species list all contained in a clamshell box ... 60 copies survived of which 55 are for sale."
27. Ghana, Togo & Benin in photographs. [Minneapolis: Crossgar Press, 1998].
$75
First edition, oblong 4to, pp. [154]; color photographs throughout; fine copy in the dust jacket.
28. Fourth annual report of the Philippine Commission. 1903. In three parts. Bureau of Insular Affairs, War Department. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904.
$375
3 volumes, thick octavos, pp. [2], xxii, 1052; [2], xxii, 856; [2], xxii, 1036; innumerable plates (mostly from photographs), graphs, tables, maps, etc.; original green cloth; a good, reasonably sound, and clean set.
"The Second Philippine Commission, also known as the Taft Commission, was appointed on March 16, 1900 to provide civil government to areas under U.S. control. It relied on the presidential war powers of the US military government for its authority. In 1901, the Spooner Amendment to the Army Appropriations Act of 1901 gave the commission, 'All military, civil, and Judicial powers necessary to govern the Philippine Islands'" (Wikipedia).
29. Phaedon: or, a dialogue on the immortality of the soul ... Translated from the original Greek by Madam Dacier. With notes and emendations. To which is prefixed the life of the author, by Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambray. New York: W. Gowan, 121 Chatham-street, 1833.
$325
First edition thus, 12mo, pp. 209, [1], 2 (Gowan ads); original blue paper-covered boards, green cloth shelfback; light dampstaining, printed paper label rubbed away; good and sound.
The first American printing of any of Plato's works. Dedicated to Washington Irving, "at once the Plato and Addison of the New World."
American Imprints 20742.
30. The old house by the river. By the author of The Owl Creek Letters. New York: Harper & Bros., 1853.
$2,600
First edition, 12mo, pp. [13], 14-318; original green cloth, gilt-stamped spine; light wear, spine dull, binding a bit skewed; a good copy.
Inscribed: "Fanny Melville, / with the respects of / J. C. Hoadley, / Arrowhead / Aug. 20, 1853."
John Chipman Hoadley (1818-1886), the respected engineer, married Herman Melville's younger sister Catherine Gansevoort Melville (1825-1905) September 15, 1853 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where Herman Melville was living at the time, at Arrowhead Farm. Fanny Melville (1827-1835), of course, is Herman's other younger sister, thereby making J. C. Hoadley both Herman's brother-in-law, and Fanny's sister-in-law in a matter of 26 days from the time of this inscription. Fanny Melville's birthday was August 26. Is it possible this was an early birthday present?
Sealts, Melville's Reading: A Check-list of Books Owned or Borrowed (1966) records two books presented to Hoadley by Melville (one lost), and another presented by Hoadley to Melville. He also records ten titles either presented to or borrowed from Fanny. This title by Prime not in Sealts. Whether it ever came into Melville's hands, as others of her books apparently did, is unknown.
Wright II, 1963.
31. A practical treatise on mechanical dentistry ... Second edition very much enlarged with one hundred and fifty-nine illustrations. Philadelphia: Lindsay and Blackiston, 1869.
$90
8vo, pp. xx, [1], 26-442; wood-engraved illustrations throughout; original full sheep, black morocco label on spine; old adhesion marks on endpapers from paper jacket being removed, the sheep lightly scuffed; all else generally very good, clean, and sound.
First published in 1860. Laid in is a calling card of Dr. E. B. Cushing, Dentist, Laconia, N.H.
32. The children of the night. Boston: Richard G. Badger & Co., 1897.
$325
First edition of the author's second book, edition limited to 550 copies, this 1/500 on Batchworth laid paper, 12mo, pp. [8], vii-ix, [1], 11-123, [1]; old portrait of Robinson from a newspaper tipped to the blank recto of p. [1], old ownership stamp of Geo. H. Marr at the bottom of the title page; all else near fine copy in original decorative cloth after a design by T. B. Hapgood, Jr.
A seminal book of poetry, containing some of Robinson's most famous work, including Luke Havergal and Richard Cory.
33. An encyclopaedic Tibetan-English dictionary. A revised version of Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo = Bod dbyin tshig mdzod chen mo : bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo bcos snon byas pa'i deb. Translated by Gyurme Dorje and Tudeng Nima; editor of the Tibetan text, Tudeng Nyima [sic]. Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House; London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 2001.
$150
Large 8vo, pp. [22]; 1384; lexicon in double column; near fine in original blue cloth stamped in gilt and red.
Tibetan entries with English equivalents. Three volumes were projected but this first volume is the only one published to date.
34. Sketches. Boston: S. G. Goodrich, 1827.
$150
First edition, 12mo, pp. 96; original drab paper-covered boards; intermittantly spotted and dampstained; good and reasonably sound. With the ownership signature of E. S. Ballard, and also of her grandmother Elisabeth L. Ballard, Briston Center, Maine.
Willis's first book, written while at Yale at the age of 21. By the time of his graduation he had already received national recognition for his poetry.
BAL 22713, binding A (no priority); American Imprints 31771.
35. A pilgrimage to Angkor: occasional leaves from the daylog. N.p., n.d. [Portland?: 1920].
$750
Only edition, 8vo, 8¼" x 5¾”; pp. 32; original printed wrappers, string-bound, photographic frontispiece and tissue guard; wrappers a little soiled, else very good or better.
Wortman [1859-1944] was an adventurous and cultured woman who, when past sixty, decided to become a world traveler, making several trips between 1920 and 1930, often by air. Her obituary touts her as an art authority, and the widow of Hardy C. Wortman, founder of Olds, Wortman & King Department Store in Portland. This little “daylog” (“written in Indo-China in October, 1920”) describes one of the highlights of her first trip overseas … it’s a testimony to her own curiosity and sense of adventure that she made her first trip to Asia. Wortman had a sharp eye for detail and seems to have been willing to walk and climb all over the place in order to see what she wanted to see of the magnificent temples at Angkor. The last section of the little book is also informative and well-written: “The Royal Dancers of Cambodia.”
This copy inscribed by Wortman "To my dear friend Frances Striegel Burke this little brochure is affectionately inscribed Mark Emily Wortman, Christmas 1923." Burke was for more than 30 years a teacher of music in Portland, and from 1926 to the time of her sudden death during a lecture in 1933 she was director of the Ellison-White Conservatory.
Also included is an undated 2-page ALs from Wortman to Burke regarding the social calendar: "I do love you most dearly, altho' you may doubt it ... I am going for the Mt. Hood loop drive this Thursday, and Friday evening is fine and I hope you can come to dinner with me and then go see 'School for Scandal' after ... With constant love and adoration..."
University of Oregon and Multnomah County Library only in OCLC.
36. Young ladies' journal, an illustrated magazine of entertaining literature, toilet and household receipts, Paris fashion and needlework: magnificent supplementary volume, full-size patterns for ladies' and children's dresses, etc. ... Volume LIII. London: Harrison & Viles, Merton House, 1899.
$90
Folio, pp. iv, 388; text in triple column; 22 (of 24) color plates of ladies' fashion at the back; numerous wood-engraved illustrations in the text; adverts for soaps, tonics, fabrics, etc. throughout; original gilt-stamped terracotta cloth, spine ends worn and a little chipped, small crack starting at the bottom on the front joint, rear endpaper torn (without loss); binding sound and otherwise very good.