Searches of WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locateonly one copy of each item, those copies being at the New-York Historical Society; bound with the N-YHS's copy of Taylor is a separately paged, six-page publication with a caption title “Hackney coaches,” which gives rules and regulations concerning taxi fares. (The copy of Taylor reported at the New York Public Library is a photostat of the Society's copy.)

The survival of a bound-together duo particularly useful to cartmen and another to hacks, along with a separately bound copy of the text that would have been independently useful to both, raises tantalizing questions about how the pamphlets were sold and left Bowne's shop — i.e., as individual items, as mix-and-match two-fers, bound or only to-be-bound?? The questions may be unresolvable as the surviving exemplars constitute so small a sample!

•  Contemporary sheep with modest blind roll around the perimeter of the boards; plainly rebacked. Overall clean; stray staining in Ordinances, age-toning overall. Housed in a light brown cloth open-back case with dark brown leather spine label, and cloth chemise (by MacDonald of New York). An amazing survival of two interesting works relating to “New-York's” public spaces.  (29764)

•  Not in Library Company, Afro-Americana (rev. ed.); not in Sabin.   Publisher's brown cloth, covers framed in blind, spine with gilt-stamped title and elaborate decorations; spine and edges moderately sunned, extremities rubbed, front joint with small spot of insect damage. Back pastedown with pencilled calculations. Foxed, with a few lower outer corners bumped.  (30358)

•  Not in Sabin. Quarter buckram over paper-covered sides. Without the original mourning wrappers. "Mercantile Library Co." blind-stamped on both sides. Paper call number label on spine. Edges and corners worn, tips of spine pulled, with loss. Ownership signature on front fly leaf, and charge pocket and card on rear free endpaper. Dog-eared. (3722)

The book is profusely illustrated with pen drawings by Eric Palmquist, who has signed the colophon; of these, some are full-page, and some are spread across two pages with the text printed beneath. Most are smaller in-text drawings, including an extensive series of decorative tailpieces.

This edition was prepared under the supervision of Ragnar Svanström at the Royal Printing House in Stockholm, Sweden, and is limited to 1500 copies. Designer Karl-Erik Forsberg used a hand-set Berling Roman font which he himself designed; Forsberg also drew uncial letters, printed in red ink, for use on the title-page and for the canto-opening initials.

The binding is half natural Swedish linen stamped on the spine in red and black; the sides are covered with Swedish paper hand-grained to look like wood, and bear a small gold-stamped design of a warship, the Norse drakkar.

This is numbered copy 972 of 1500 printed; it wassigned by the illustrator.  The relevant Club newsletter is laid in.

Binding:  Quarter tan Swedish linen with streaked red paper–covered sides, front cover with gilt-stamped Viking ship, spine with decorative title in black and red, in the original matching slipcase with printed paper spine label.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 232.   Binding as above, spine slightly sunned, slipcase with moderate shelfwear to edges and one edge opening. A solid, attractive copy of a handsome book.  (29946)

•  Publisher's color-printed cloth; creased across middle, sewing starting from extremities. Upper and lower edges slightly frayed. A few small smudges, mostly confined to lower portion of front cover and one other page. An unusual survivor in pleasing condition.  (30310)

The six pages of advertisements offer multiplereviews of the Harper works listed, not just publication information!

Provenance: Front free endpaper with ex libris inscription initialed “GRW”: William [Guillelmus] R. Whittingham, Bishop of Baltimore.

•  Shoemaker 40623; NSTC 2E8969. Publisher’s quarter cloth and paper-covered sides, spine with printed paper label; binding faded and worn, spine label chipped and darkened. Front pastedown with institutional rubber-stamp, no other markings; pages untrimmed, and foxed throughout.

•  Publisher’s cloth, covers blind-stamped, spine with gilt-stamped title; binding lightly scuffed overall, spine with extremities worn and one compartment gently faded, back joint with small ink blotch and corner of front cover with traces of old adhesion, as a sticker. Front pastedown with private collector’s bookplate and institutional bookplate, front free endpaper with inked ownership inscription dated 1859, title-page verso stamped (no other markings). Pages slightly age-toned. (19078)

illustrated with six halftone plates by Edmund Marion Ashe

Signed binding: Publisher's maroon textured cloth, front cover with blind-stamped lion rampant outlined in black, gilt-stamped title, and outlined heart and roundel decorations. Signed by American illustrator and book designer Thomas Maitland Cleland (front cover blind-stamped “C”).

•  Binding as above, mild rubbing at extremities and joints, front cover clean and beautiful. Scattered small smudges, pages predominantly clean. A nice copy.  (28579)

The first printing of the Imitation appeared in 1473 and there followed hundreds of European editions before the first American appeared 1749. It was as popular with the American audience as it had been in Europe, and it appeared here in English and German translation and even in an extracted form, almost always redone for Protestants.

This is the first printing of the Imitation in Connecticut.

•  Shoemaker 9094; Parsons 778. On the translator, see: The Dictionary of National Biography. Contemporary sheep with a near-contemporary over-covering of another sheep binding—with a rectangle cut out to expose the original spine label. Over-covering very plain. Expectable foxing and a certain amount of staining; a "decent" copy made interesting by the careful early "conservation" of the binding.

This has an engraved title-page with vignette incorporating David as harpist, and a steel-engraved frontispiece signed by J. Eddy as engraver, “W. Heath, del.”

Provenance:  Inked ownership note to blank of “Charlotte Russell / July 14th — 1831.”

•  Publisher's brown cloth shelfback with paper-covered boards; binding fragile, showing considerable wear with tears in the cloth. Foxing and age-toning; page edges lightly chipped and worn. Ex-library: call number on binding, bookplate, pressure-stamps and other identifications, pencilling. Uncut copy.  (23938)

Click the images for enlargements.

Among the public health crises Thomson discusses in this guidebook is an increase inchildbirth mortality rates; he notes that many doctors' techniques and prescriptions endangered the lives of women and infants, and strongly recommends that pregnant women rely on experienced midwives instead of greedy, “ignorant pretenders” (p. 179).

•  American Imprints 14994. Not in Garrison & Morton.   Contemporary treed sheep, spine with later paper, hand-inked label; binding moderately rubbed overall, spine head chipped, front joint cracked and back joint starting from foot. One leaf with small hole, not touching text; one leaf with tear from lower margin, extending into text without loss. Foxing, staining, used and fit for more use.  (28458)

Is it giving away too much if we reveal that “The Girl Sport” is also known as “The Bonanza Widow”???

•  Publisher's quarter red cloth and printed paper–covered sides; spine sunned, extremities rubbed. The printed spine label is laid in. Pages clean. Swell.  (28247)

•  Sabin 97079. Publisher's blind stamped charcoal gray cloth with a grain to it; spine stamped and lettered in gilt. Cloth a little bubbled on the boards, with spots of discoloration. Top and bottom of spine pulled. Faint traces of waterstaining at top of some pages and a few other, stray stains. An “okay” copy.

Includes 10 pages of publisher's advertisements.

•  Flake & Draper 9036.   Publisher's grey cloth, covers bumped at corners; spine split down middle and rebacked with black cloth tape, a small piece of which has been cut away to reveal the original gilt title. Hinge inside open in places, with pp. 3–22 and pp. 75–94 detached from binding; tiny edge nicks to fore-edge of pp. 9–16. Ex-library with bookplate on front pastedown, remnants of a paper label on rear free endpaper, and charge card and pocket on rear pastedown; pressure-stamps on title-page and other library notations on p. [3]. Text clean, with no marks or soiling; definitely “used” but a worthwhile keeper nonetheless.  (24427)

Binding: Publisher's olive cloth, covers blind-stamped in strapwork pattern; front cover with gilt-stamped center medallion presenting a casket of wisdom in vignette with other high-minded emblems. Spine with gilt-stamped title and decorative motifs; all edges gilt.

•  Spine lightly sunned, edges and extremities mildly rubbed (spine extremities more so). Front pastedown with Albany bookseller's ticket of Joseph Lord. Moderate foxing as expectable. A pretty book, and a pretty copy.  (27330)

Provenance:  Front free endpaper with early inked gift inscription in a childish hand “To Miss Phebe Webber from Lyman”); back free endpaper with inked gift inscription in more sophisticated hand from the recipient of the first (“Presented to Eddie Ferris by his new Aunt Phebe”).

•  Not in Sternick, Children's Series.   Publisher's dark teal-green cloth, covers blind-stamped, spine gilt-stamped; corners and spine rubbed, cloth with areas of light discoloration. Inscriptions as above. Scattered spots of foxing; a very few short edge tears extending into text without loss.  (28753)