Binding:  Publisher's green cloth, covers framed in blind, front cover with decorative gilt-stamped title, spine with gilt-stamped title.

•  Barile 39–40; Bitting 388 (for early editions); Cagle & Stafford 627 (second ed. on). Not in Brown, Culinary Americana.   Binding as above, light rubbing overall, more pronounced to joints and extremities. Front free endpaper with later inked ownership inscription (“E. Endicott”). Pages very clean and crisp: a desirable copy.  (28633)

•  Shoemaker 8630; Arndt & Eck, German Language Printing in the U.S., 2524.   Contemporary sheep framed in blind single fillet, spine with raised band, one strap and clasp present and functional; binding scuffed, one strap lacking. Pages browned and lightly spotted as typical; early leaves with some waterstaining in margins. A few corners dog-eared. A pleasingly solid copy.  (29602)

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•  Sabin 70572.   Sewn. Waterstained; soiling to outer leaves. Early reader's two small ink notations on title-page, just below the imprint. Uncut, partly unopened copy, with one signature opened unevenly.  (24487)

The work was also published in the same year under the title The Romance of American Landscape, and bears that running title here. This copy has an intriguing early pencilled inscription: “The 1st book my Father gave me came out of his book store - C.L.”

Binding:  Publisher's brown sheep in imitation of morocco, covers with embossed grapevine and latticework border stamped in black and with decorative gilt-stamped title (“LANDSCAPE ANNUAL”); spine with same gilt-stamped title and gilt- and black-stamped decorations. All edges gilt.

•  Sabin 70958; Wright, II, 2030. Not in BAL.   Binding as above, light wear to edges and extremities. Hinges (inside) starting. Front fly-leaf with inscription as above; additional engraved title-page with vignette of Mt. Vernon, lacking. Intermittent light to moderate foxing, mostly to margins of plates. Lovely book, lovely copy.  (26679)

•  Publisher's blind-stamped blue cloth, rebacked preserving original gilt-stamped spine; edges rubbed, spine darkened. Pages clean. (20711)

•  Sabin 71333; Pilling, Proof-sheets, 3293; Pilling, Siouan, 62; Newberry Library, Ayer Indians, Dakota-137; Field, Essay towards an Indian Bibliography, 1302; Banks, Books in Native Languages (rev. ed.), 59. Not in Evans, Masinahikan.   Publisher's textured dark green cloth, covers framed in blind, spine with gilt-stamped title and vignette and blind-tooled decorative bands; extremities rubbed, cloth very slightly faded at edges and with spots of minor dust-soiling. Ex–social club library: hand-inked paper shelving label at spine head, 19th-century bookplate, call number on endpapers, no other markings. Pages faintly age-toned, first two leaves creased. A solid copy.  (29760)

14 maps of important battle locations

•  Howes R311; Sabin 71530.   Publisher's ribbed brown cloth, covers with blind-stamped foliate frames surrounding publisher's arabesque cartouche, spines with gilt-stamped title and blind-stamped decorative bands; corners rubbed, spine heads chipped and reinforced with brown cloth tape, lower board edges showing very faint water damage, lower back cover of vol. I and lower front cover of vol. II slightly warped, endpapers stained by bleed-through of binder's glue. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplates, call number on endpapers, rubber-stamp on title-pages and a few others, no other markings. Vol. I: Two plates with small spots of light staining; light waterstaining to lower outer corners of a few leaves, including one plate. Vol. II: mild waterstaining to lower portions, extending into text; signatures in latter portion unopened. A slightly rough copy, still solid and readable and decent on shelf.  (29427)

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•  Shoemaker 40547. Not in Rosenbach, Early American Children's Books.   Publisher's printed yellow paper wrappers, front wrapper lacking, back wrapper stained with edges nicked, spine overstitched at a later date. Moderate spotting and staining to pages; corners bumped. Slightly tattered: first few leaves with short tear from outer margin, not touching text; title-page and subsequent two leaves with short tear from inner margin, extending into text without loss.  (24545)

•  Shoemaker 3035; Sabin 72202; this edition not in Palau. Contemporary boards, rebacked with paper in the style of the era; original paper label reapplied. Uncut copy with edges untrimmed. Library bookplate with stamps on it, but no other institutional markings.

Binding:  Publisher's dark green cloth, front cover and spine with flowering branches stamped in black, spine with gilt-stamped title.

•  BAL 16902 (not matching either described binding); Wright, III, 4619.   Bound as above, extremities rubbed not too roughly; front cover with small areas of faint discoloration. Front free endpaper with inked ownership inscription (S.M. Woodburn) dated [18]81 and tear with a bit of loss from upper margin. Generally clean and nice with occasional light spots; ads at the back giving extra pleasure and interest.  (28406)

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Binding:  Signed binding by Gaskill: Oxblood calf ornately embossed with a central medallion of Aurora in her chariot, surrounded by foliate designs, within a framing roll of drawer-handles and tulips; spine with gilt-stamped authors' names and embossed foliate designs; board edges and turn-ins with gilt rolls. All edges gilt.

•  American Imprints 41-4210; Wolf, From Gothic Windows to Peacocks, 190.   Binding as above, corners and spine extremities showing faint traces of wear. Moderate foxing throughout. A beautiful example of Philadelphia Victorian high book culture and of a classic Gaskill binding in particular.  (25994)

•  Sewn as issued. Once folded in six parts. Long 2 1/2 inch tears extending from fore-edges, to first three leaves. Two dog-eared corners, a few short tears to final leaf, two small holes with loss of a few words of text. (557)

•  Sewn; wrappers chipped, front separating near spine; author's name pencilled on front. Ex-historical society copy with stamp on title-page. Some page edges irregular and with short tears.  (650)

•  American Imprints 21026; Howes R522; Sabin 74264.   Period-style quarter tan cloth and light blue paper–covered sides, spine with printed paper label. Pages age-toned, with minor spotting; a good, clean copy.  (27208)

•  Sabin 74265; Howes R523; Allibone 1893.   Publisher's brown cloth, blind-stamped, spine with gilt-stamped title and blind-stamped decorations; rubbed with cloth split at joints and front cover with spot of discoloration. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate on front pastedown, old inked call number on endpapers and flyleaf (which has small old adhesions of paper to verso); no other markings. Very light to moderate waterstaining to upper inner portions of central third of the volume.  (26480)

This is the second edition, following the (scarce) first of 1852; the front cover differs from the title-page in giving the publication information as Chicago.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with several early pencilled inscriptions, including one reading “To Vestilla from W.B. Lear, July 13th 1857.” A folded section from a smaller hymnal is laid in.

•  Publisher's quarter sheep and printed paper–covered boards; binding darkened and rubbed, front joint starting from head, front cover creased. Front free endpaper partially excised and back free endpaper lacking; front pastedown with inscriptions as above, back pastedown with early inked annotations and numerals. First three leaves with central tear affecting several words. Laid-in hymnal pages with upper edges chewed. Moderate foxing and intermittent waterstaining; some corners dog-eared.Interesting for its graphically appealing cover and the array of its “juvenile” repertoire choices.  (30255)

•  Publisher's printed paper wrappers, apparently removed from a nonce volume, with sewing holes; paper split over spine, with edges chipped and corners creased. Pages showing light foxing.  (15359)

This is a very scarce book. Palau did not know of this English translation, and fewer than eight U.S. libraries report owning a copy of it.

•  Palau 286648 (for the Spanish-language edition); Sabin 75576; Shoemaker 35093a. Recent quarter dark green morocco with marbled paper sides. Pages 3 through 6 are supplied in xerographic facsimile. Browning and foxing.

The outer binding is red textured cloth with the front cover stamped in black and gilt, and the interior front cover sample for the children’s version is a different red textured cloth stamped in black. The leaves for subscribers’information are unused.

•  Not in Arbour. Publisher’s cloth as described above, gently worn with corners rubbed and small scrape to front cover. Interior clean.

For more SAMPLE BOOKS, & an explanation of
what these ARE,  click here.

Binding:  Publisher's dark blue cloth, front cover with author and title stamped in cream, and blind-stamped Art Nouveau-inspired foliate design signed “HEF” (overlapping monogram; designer unidentified).

•  Binding as above, corners and spine extremities lightly rubbed, back cover with small scuffs. Back pastedown with Seattle bookseller's small ticket. Pages clean.  (29123)

•  Shoemaker 6710. Publisher's sheep. Abrasions to covers and spine, with pieces of leather flaked off; joints abraded. Foxing. Tear to rear free endpaper. Bookplate on front pastedown. (1078)

Click the images for enlargements.

•  Publisher's blue cloth, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped title; edges and extremities lightly worn, spine darkened, evidence of something round once set on cover, scattered small spots of light discoloration. Interior clean and nice. (26682)

•  Brown, Culinary Americana, 1955 (for 1927 ed.).   Publisher's orange buckram-covered boards inoriginal pictorial dust jacket showing a clearly very fortunate family at table; spine very slightly sunned, front upper edge faintly dust-soiled, jacket with spine sunned and back panel moderately soiled, tear (with some resulting creasing) to upper portion of front panel and small nicks to spine extremities. Pages gently age-toned, otherwise clean.  (30179)

A famous work of medical Western Americana.

Provenance:  Bookplate (late 19th-, early 20th-century) of “H.P. Engle, M.D.”, probably the Iowan of that name.

•  Sabin 76909; Cushing S73; Heirs of Hippocrates 1321; Cordasco 40-1154.   Publisher's sheep: worn, joints open and boards soon to detach. Foxing as usual. Now with a paper dust wrapper, image of the title-page gracing its front, and housed in a red cloth clamshell case with two neat leather spine labels.  (25101)

The front cover's multi-layer diorama features a sailing ship, a curious fish, and an unhappy sailor overboard, all behind a mesh overlay and moveable via a turning “wheel of rocks.” Inside, Alice's head bobs upwards on an extending neck, the fish footman bears a real folded paper invitation, and the Mad Hatter tips his hat; Jim's brightly colored treasure map can be unfolded and perused, the apples in his barrel can be slid aside to reveal his hiding place, and a sack of pirate booty lies in wait for the taking; Rip Van Winkle catches a fish with your aid in pulling the string, flies the American flag, and in the final cutaway diorama, drinks ale with a revolving cast of characters.

All “extras” are present (including the often-absent balloon face), and all moving parts work.

Provenance:  Front pastedown presentation page inscribed to Allen Pitts Wiegand with love from Mom.

•  Publisher's printed paper–covered box-style binding, spine with printed cloth overlay; mild shelfwear overall, edges rubbed with a few small edge chips, front cover with small tear to paper over mesh cutout and one at edge of wheel cutout, back cover with lower inside corner partially pushed in resulting in split along back joint. Pages clean; some of the removable items with light spots of foxing. Small bit of paper overlying wheel edge in final diorama partially detached (but still present). Presentation inscription as above. Despite minor issues listed above, no childish hands ever mauled or discolored this movable treasure, and overall it is in remarkable condition for a piece of this nature.A real box of wonders!  (30233)

illustrated with eight steel-engraved plates

Written by a New Hampshire-born poet and educator and published by subscription, this work was originally printed in 1883 as Our Home; Or the Key to a Nobler Life; it appears here in significantly expanded form with contributions from several ministers and one physician. The wide-ranging volume includes the advice to always send your little child to bed happy (“give the dear child a warm good-night kiss as it goes to its pillow,” p. 67), and to spare the rod and develop the child's conscience and sense of honor instead. It also covers the necessity of education and equality of professional opportunity for girls and women, and offers recommendations to smile often in the home, permit only good reading materials, pursue music, provide guidance in maintaining correspondences and friendships, model Christian values and religious observance, encourage fresh air and exercise, avoid alcohol and tobacco, etc.

Binding: Publisher's dark green cloth, front cover with “silver”-stamped decorative frame and red- and “silver”-stamped “Our Home” heart design in center; spine with decorative red and “silver”title. All edges bright red.

•  “Silver” stamping and extremities showing slight rubbing, front cover with a few small, unobtrusive spots of staining. Front hinge (inside) tender from the weight of this hefty work, but holding. Pages clean; a few leaves with small nick to upper edge. A pleasing example of a tenderly appealing portrayal of domestic joys.  (30304)

Different readers will of course have different favorites; one PRB&Mer's is the poem on Van Buren, beginning, “A panic wild has seized our glorious land!” and moving to its denoument with that president couch[ing his] lance anent / Commercial Ruin, who on the field is slain.”

•  Publisher's blue cloth with all edges rose; gilt-stamped title on front cover and spine, blind-stamped American eagle on front cover; spine very slightly darkened, extremities a bit rubbed, back cover with spots of light discoloration. A solid, clean copy, better-looking than above description might imply.  (26694)

•  Pebbled cloth, lightly worn. Leaves with minor cockling, some staining and offsetting. Some pages with portions excised; one leaf excised entirely.

The work is illustrated with a frontispiece portrait, a folding map of the coast of Greenland and part of the Arctic Circle, and five plates in color (notably “ice blue”) of snow flakes, ice floes, an atmospheric phenomenon, and two views of different parts of the Greenland coast.

•  Sabin 35452 & 78184.   Publisher's purple textured cloth, boards blind embossed and front one with a gilt center device; spine sunned; lettered in gilt. Top of spine with small loss of cloth and an excellent repair; one plate with a separated sliver of tissue-guard adhered to it. Ex–social club library: call number on endpaper, very light rubber- and pressure-stamp on title-page, pressure-stamp on another page, light rubber stamp on map, no other markings. A good++ copy.  (26822)

NO U.S. editions in NCBEL.

•  Shoemaker 26032; NSTC 2S9985. No U.S. editions in NCBEL.   Period-style quarter tan cloth and light blue paper–covered sides, spine with printed paper label. Ex–social club library: pressure-stamp on title-pages and one other page, no other markings. One leaf with short tear from lower margin, not touching text; one leaf with tear from outer margin extending into text, without loss; two leaves with lower outer corners torn away. Occasional small spots of staining; minor offsetting in vol. II.  (28743)

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•  Wright, II, 2174; Sabin 78641.   Publisher's brown cloth, covers blind-stamped with star-shaped design, spine with gilt-stamped title and blind-stamped decoration; binding cocked and rubbed, spine extremities chipped. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate and call number on pastedown and fly-leaf, front free endpaper lacking, title-page pressure-stamped. No other markings. Pages faintly age-toned, otherwise clean.  (26565)

No copy traced via OCLC.

•  Not in Banks. Not in Evans.   One leaf, folded. First page with half-inch long tear and another smaller tear at upper left corner, not touching text. Near fine.  (14758)

“Negro Poison” (p. 45), a.k.a. tuberculosis

The final portion of the volume is dedicated to American materia medica, an extensive listing of native plants and how to use them to cure various ailments that offers a good number of entries that may well have had legitimate medicinal value, e.g., bowman's root (“Indian physic”), plantain juice, mountain birch bark, Seneca snakeroot, etc.

Dr. Selman, who seems to have operated on the fringes of the Thomsonian movement, was the son-in-law of Kentucky physician Richard Carter (“commonly called the 'indian doctor,'” p. iv); his background and education are otherwise unclear. Here, he occasionally breaks into verse (!).

•  American Imprints 40126; Byrd & Peckham, Indiana Imprints, 658.   Contemporary treed sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; rebacked with compatible leather preserving original spine label, corners rubbed. Front pastedown and free endpaper with early pencilled inscriptions. Pages age-toned, with mild foxing and cockling. A nice copy of an uncommon item.  (30147)

•  Publisher's green cloth, front cover with moose vignette stamped in brown, spine with brown- and black-stamped title and additional moose; rubbed, spots of soiling, spine sunned and with inked shelving number. Front pastedown with institutional bookplate (no other library markings); back pastedown with bookseller's small ticket. Pages clean. Still fun and you can still learn stuff.  (27088)

This is numbered copy 146 of 425 printed, signed at the colophon by the author and additionally inscribed by him to “Professor Harry” on the half-title.

•  Publisher's half tan cloth and orange paper–covered sides, front cover with design printed in black, spine with printed paper label; lacking the slipcase, binding with old smudges and areas of discoloration, front cover with small scrape, back outer edge with small dent. Minor offsetting from illustrations, pages otherwise clean.  (28213)