AMERICANA TO 1820
AMERICANA TO 1820
Society
History
Society of
the Cincinnati. Pennsylvania. Proceedings of the General
Society of the Cincinnati, with the original institution of the Order.... Philadelphia:
Pr. by John Ormrod, 1801. 8vo. 82 pp.
This publication demonstrates that change among many others, as it traces the Society via its own documents from its founding at the "Cantonment of the American Army, on Hudson's River, 10th May, 1783," through the incorporation of the Pennsylvania branch, to the death of Gen. Washington. Included here are the by-laws of the Pennsylvania chapter.
• Shaw & Shoemaker 1339. Sewn, as issued. Front wrapper missing, rear wrapper present. A few spots of waterstaining. Uncut copy. New protective paper corset provided and the whole housed in a cloth clam shell case with a leather spine label lettered in gilt. A very good copy.
Quaker Life in
Dutchess County, NY — 1779Society
of Friends. To the yearly meeting. Extracts taken from the minnets of our quarterly meeting held at the Oblong by adjournments from ye 1st of the 5 month to 3ed of the same inclusive. 1779. New York: Pr. by Melbert B. Cary,
Jr. at the Sign of the Woolly Whale, 1936. 8vo (20.2 cm, 7.9"). [12] pp.
Long, breathless, run-on sentences make the expected Quaker standards of behavior, in this place and time, quite clear.
• Sewn in publisher’s color-flecked paper wrappers. A crisp, clean copy.
“Take 500 Protestations . . . ” Spofford, Thomas. Astronomical diary, or almanack, for the year ... 1819. ... Calculated for the meridian of Andover ... but will serve without any error of consequence for any of the New-England states. Boston: Hews & Goss, [1818]. 12mo. [18] ff.
how to compose a “modern” love letter plus a (truly) humorous description of marriage. Two states of gathering C noted. In the second, a note has been added at foot of p. [34], correcting information given in the calendar pages about a solar eclipse on April 24th. This is a copy in the state without the correction.
• Drake 3819; Shaw & Shoemaker 43108. Uncut copy; old stitching. A very good copy. (9622)
The
Commonwealth &
The Inspector General
Militia
(State
of Pennsylvania). An act for the regulation of the militia
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. [with] Steuben,
Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin, Baron von. Regulations
for the order and discipline of the troops of the United States. Lancaster (PA):
John R. Mathews, 1807. 12mo (17.2 cm, 6.75"). 64, 5–85 (lacking prelim.
ff., pp. 1–4 & 81/82), [1 (blank)] pp. (lacking plts.)
Commonly referred to as the "Blue Book" (for the color of its original wrappers), the Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops was written by Von Steuben, the first Inspector General of the United States Army, based on his experience training Washington's troops at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. First printed in 1779, it remains in use, in modified form, even today—and its combination here with another contemporary document of obvious importance for soldiers and officers, with a Pennsylvania provenance and in an original binding, provides a very pleasing artifact of military history.
Provenance: Among several early ownership inscriptions on the front pastedown and title-page is one reading "John Ebling Captain." Several different John Eblings, most hailing from Berks County, PA, are recorded as having served in Pennsylvania companies.
• Act: Shaw & Shoemaker 13330/13331 (second listing giving this pagination but not identifying second work). Regulations: Shaw & Shoemaker 13649. Both: Sabin 91457. Contemporary mottled sheep, showing expectable damage from acid binding treatment, wear, and a few pin-type wormholes. Early inked ownership inscriptions as described above, one dated 1828. Many corners dog-eared; pages gently age-toned with some darker spotting. Second work with plates, preliminary leaves, title-page, and pp. 81/82 lacking; some leaves loosening. With faults but still fascinating.
“My
Life Was Always Exposed to the Danger
Implacable Hatred and Revenge”Steele, Zadock. The Indian captive; or a narrative of the captivity and sufferings...to which is prefixed an account of the burning of Royalton. Montpelier, VT: Published by the author (pr. by E.P. Walton), 1818. 12mo (16.5 cm, 6.5"). 142, [2] pp.
Click either image for an enlargement. • Ayer, Narratives of Indian Captivity, 280; Howes S-930; Sabin 91164; Shaw & Shoemaker 45795. Contemporary mottled sheep, worn; leather chipping over spine and lost over head of spine. Front pastedown torn and peeling; front free endpaper lacking; back pastedown absent. Title-page with upper inner corner torn away, just touching “T” in first “The” of title. Pages age-toned and spotted, with some edge nicks and chips. Sewing starting to loosen.
Dedicated to “Patrons ofPure,Stiles, Ezra. A history of three of the judges of King Charles I. Major-General Whalley, Major-General Goffe, and Colonel Dixwell: Who, at the Restoration, 1660, fled to America; and were secreted and concealed, in Massachusetts and Connecticut, for near thirty years. With an account of Mr. Theophilus Whale, of Narragansett, supposed to have been also one of the judges. Hartford: Elisha Babcock, 1794. 12mo. 357, [5 (4 blank)], 357, [4 (3 blank)] pp.; 8 plts. (3 fold.); lacks the frontis. port.
Click the images for enlargements. • Evans 27743; Howes S-999; Sabin 91742; Trumbull, Connecticut, 1425. Period-style quarter calf with marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and author labels and blind-tooled floral decorations in compartments. Previous owner's signature on the title-page. Rubber-stamps of the Mercantile Library, and inked marks and underlining inside, with scattered marginalia. Frontispiece portrait lacking, with eight plates (three of which are fold-out) present; each of the three folding plates with a split along one fold. Occasional marginal tears and small chips to corners; waterstaining and foxing, yet paper strong and reading easy. (3996)
Englishmen
on theFrench
Revolution[Stone,
John Hurford, et al.]. Copies
of original letters recently written by persons in Paris to Dr. Priestley in America.
Taken on board a neutral vessel. Third edition. London: J. Wright, 1798. 8vo (20.7
cm, 8.1"). 36 pp.
• ESTC N1989; Sabin 92070. Removed from a nonce volume, with sewing holes; now in a Mylar folder. Half-title with small numerical stamp, pencilled notations, a bit of staining and two smears/blots of old red ink. Interior slightly age-toned but clean.
A Lot of“STORYS” for the Money! Storys of the bewitched fiddler, perilous situation, and John Hetherington's dream. Glasgow [Scotland]: Printed for the Booksellers, [18--]. 12mo. 24 pp. 
The
final page of the chapbook contains an anecdote about soldiers from an American
regiment making fun of a hunchback who gets back at them with a dig about Bunker
Hill where the regiment suffered heavy losses. "[No.]
28." printed at the foot of the title.
• Not located in RLIN. Very good. Original self wrappers (unbound; removed). (17584)
His
ADDRESS
for
Vermonters
[Sullivan, George]. An
address of members of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United
States, to their constituents, on the subject of the war with Great Britain.
Windsor, [VT]: Thomas M. Pomroy, 1812. 12mo (22.5 cm, 8.9"). 31, [1 (blank)]
pp. 
• Shaw & Shoemaker 24555; Sabin 393 (not listing this ed.); Howes A77 (not listing this ed.). Half morocco over marbled paper sides, worn and front cover off; library paper shelving label on front cover. Binder's ticket on back free endpaper. Title-page and one other stamped by a now-defunct institution; back free endpaper with pocket. Pages untrimmed, with some browning.
History
of Europe
& America
Too (1500–68)Surius, Laurentius. Commentarius brevis rerum in orbe gestarum. ab anno salutis
1500. usque in annum 1568. ex optimis quibusq[u]e scriptoribus congestus. Coloniae: Apud Geruinum Calenium & haeredes Johannis Quentel, 1568. Small 8vo (16.5
cm; 6.5"). a8 A–Z8 AA–ZZ8 Aaa–Qqq8 Rrr6 (Rrr5–6 blank; -Rrr6). [8] ff., 938 pp., [34 (lacks blank)] ff. (lacking final blank leaf).
Click the images above for enlargements. 
Coverage of events is wide-ranging and includes Russia, Lithuania, Persia, Byzantium, and the New World. Columbus, Vespucci, and native American cannibalism are discussed under the year 1500; and under 1558 there is a combined account of the exploits of Pizarro in Peru and Cortés in Mexico, with some discussion of Brazil and other areas up to that time.
Printed in small roman type with side- and shouldernotes, historiated woodcut initials, and a printer’s device on the title-page.
• VD16 S10244; Adams S2099; Alden 568/30; Sabin 93882. Modern full dark calf, in style of the 16th-century including bevelled boards; remnants of clasps retained from an earlier binding. Signature or other ownership mark excised from blank area of title-page. 19th-century ownership inscription at base of title-page. Light waterstaining in some margins. Lacks final blank leaf (only). A very good copy.
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XIX . . . |