
CONDUCT
Proudly American Liberal Arts — The Port Folio's Debut
(“Anti-”). Dennie, Joseph, ed. The port folio. Philadelphia: Bradford & Inskeep, 1801. 4to (32.2 cm, 12.7"). [8], 416 pp. (lacking pp. 103/04, 11/12, 255–64, 271/72, 339/40).
$350.00
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First edition: the first appearance of the Port Folio, an important early American literary and political periodical that ran from 1801 through 1827. In the premier, weekly issues gathered here, the journal featured John Quincy Adams's account of his tour through Silesia, Dennie's federalist thoughts, a translation of a canto from Voltaire's Henriade, a diatribe against the phrase “people of colour” (and in defense of slavery), original poetry, theatrical and musical reviews, a humorous brief on
how most efficiently to inconvenience other people in the coffee-house, on the street, or at the play-house, and many other items. This collection, which contains 51 of the 52 issues of 1801, includes the
original prospectus (with a handful of names pencilled in the “names” column provided at the close).
This volume is in the large ambitious quarto format of the journal's first years, not the octavo format of the later, “New Series”
Provenance: Front free endpaper with early inked presentation inscription to New Salem Academy from the Honorable Ethan Allen Greenwood (1779–1856), the Massachusetts lawyer who established the New England Museum.
Sabin 64182. Contemporary quarter sheep and light blue paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-stamped date; rubbed and stained overall, spine leather with cracks and chips, spine head with remnants of small paper label, refurbished: spine caps readhered, front cover reattached, edges reinforced, leather consolidated. Front free endpaper with inscription as above. A later hand has laid in a number of leaves of annotations and commentary on various pieces herein, along with some account of the lacking portions; occasional pencilled annotations in text as well. One leaf with inner margin neatly reinforced; some tears repaired and loose leaves secured. Pages occasionally creased; varying degrees of browning and foxing. Outer edges trimmed closely, occasionally with loss of final letters. Upper portion of one leaf torn away, with loss of weekly header and about three paragraphs of text; one leaf chipped along fold, with loss of several letters; lower outer portion of one leaf torn away, with loss of roughly two paragraphs. Nos. 13, 14, 32, and 34 each lacking final leaf; no. 33 lacking. Pp. 395/96 bound in out of order. Several pieces of dried plant matter laid in at various points.
This volume of the Port Folio is as meaty and full of just plain interesting stuff as they all were, despite its lacking bits; and, it represents the journal's beginnings. (29227)

“Most Salutary & Important Advice”
Atmore, Charles. Serious advice, from a father to his children, respecting their conduct in the world; civil, moral, and religious. Philadelphia: J.H. Cunningham, 1819. 12mo (13.4 cm, 5.25"). Frontis., 36 pp.
[SOLD]
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First American edition of Atmore's Christian-themed work on how children should behave, taken from the London edition of 1817. The large frontispiece is an unsigned wood engraving showing a father lecturing two pre-adolescent boys and a similarly aged girl; old-fashioned though that is, there is still much wisdom set forth here for later life — including advice on maintaining virtuous happiness in marriage and business, and how to deal with a family “prodigal.”
Atmore acknowledges, in the preface, his indebtedness to William Penn for some of the phrases and advice found here.
Shaw & Shoemaker 47024. Not in Rosenbach, Early American Children's Books; out of scope of Welch, Bibliography of American Children's Books Printed Prior to 1821. Publisher's grey-blue paper wrappers printed with duplicate of title-page on front cover (within a border) and with advertisement for Cunningham's juvenile books on back cover; front wrapper with small edge nick, back wrapper with rubbed spot over part of stitching, spine chipped. Pages age-toned with mild to moderate foxing. (31353)

“A Girl Need Never be a
Drudge”
Beeton, Samuel & Isabella. The Englishwoman's domestic magazine. An illustrated journal, combining practical information, instruction, and amusement. New series. Vol. IV. London: S.O. Beeton, 1862. 8vo (22.2 cm, 8.75"). 284 pp.; 6 col. plts., 1 col. fold. plt.
[SOLD]
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Volume IV, nos. 19 through 24 of an enormously successful ladies' periodical published by .Samuel Orchart Beeton (husband of the famed cookery writer Isabella Mary Beeton) from 1852 through 1879; both Beetons made many contributions to the magazine. Aimed at middle-class women, these issues include fiction (mostly of a decidedly melodramatic sort, the two most prominent stories here being “Constance Chorley” and “Wayfe Summers”), poems, studies in botany, descriptions of the latest fashions, book reviews, music,
gently humorous reviews of
“conduct,” cookery, etc., illustrated with in-text engravings and
six richly hand-colored fashion plates, plus one color-printed, oversized, folding fashion plate.
This volume also includes an interesting editorial, “Solid Pudding,” in which the author claims that modern girls are both better educated and as domestically skilled if not more so than their ancestors — they're better company for it, to boot!
Readers looking for entertainment should note that many of the tales present here are portions of serialized novels begun in previous numbers or slated to end in later ones.
Publisher's textured green cloth, front cover with blind-stamped frame and decorative gilt-stamped title, spine with gilt-stamped title; spine darkened with head chipped, edges and extremities rubbed, sides showing spots of minor discoloration, binding slightly shaken. Front free endpaper rubber-stamped “Mrs. Stanley.” Light foxing; a few leaves with upper margins chipped; outer edge of folding plate slightly ragged.
A marvelous representation of women's reading of the day, with attractive color plates. (32034)

Living
Wisely
Boutauld, Michel. Les conseils de la sagesse, ou le recueil des maximes de Salomon les plus necessaires à l'homme pour se conduire sagement. Paris: Sebastien Mabre-Cramoisy, 1697. 8vo (16.3 cm, 6.4"). Frontis., [8], 278, [2], frontis., [54], 244, [4] pp.
$175.00
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“Nouvelle edition . . . Reveûë & augmentée par l'Autheur”: an early, uncommon edition of this popular book of maxims, originally published in 1677. Much esteemed in its day, this collection of nuggets of practical and meditative wisdom on how to conduct one's domestic, civil, and religious life was at first attributed to Fouquet but was actually written by a Jesuit preacher. The present example includes the follow-up La Suite des conseils de la sagesse, with the same copper-engraved frontispiece (Solomon at work with quill and tablet, visited by an inspiring angel) appearing before each part; the text is printed with a number of decorative tailpieces.
DeBacker-Sommervogel, II, 45. Contemporary vellum, spine with early hand-inked title; vellum with small spots of staining and rear pastedown gone, binding overall clean and tight. Frontispiece with shallow chip to lower edge not into plate area; pages slightly age-toned with some very faint spotting in the second part, otherwise clean. (29267)
He Gave
Himself the Last Word
Churchill, Charles. The conference. London: G. Kearsly, 1763. 4to (25.2 cm, 9.9"). [2], 19, [1 (blank)] pp. (lacking half-title).
$200.00
First edition of this poem on the disparities sometimes found between private and public virtue, and the poet's responsibility to write for the country's good.
ESTC T1702. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with printed paper label. Half-title lacking. Title-page and two others stamped by a now-defunct institution; leaves with reinforced tears at inner margins.

Revising the
Rules of Conduct & Administration
Franciscans. Provincia de San Diego de México. Constituciones de la Provincia de San Diego de Mexico de los Menores Descalços de la mas estrecha observancia regular de N.S.P.S. Francisco en esta Nueva-España. México: Por los Herederos de la viuda de Francisco Rodriguez Lupercio, 1698. 4to (20 cm; 8"). [18], 263, [16] ff.
$3250.00
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This revised constitution and rule was finally published after much discussion and compromise as made explicit on the title-page: “dispuestas por especial compromissa, de el discretorio de el capitulo provincial celebrado en el Convento de S. Diego de Mexico en I. de Diziembre de 1696: y aprobadas por su difinitorio en 23. de Iunio de 1697: y ultimamente
revistas, y firmadas en 24. de Octubre de dicho año por los mismos compromissarios, y definitorio, que las saca à luz con las constituciones apostolicas pertenecientes á la ereccion de dicha provincia, mejor govierno, gracias, indultos, privilegios, y prerrogativas de la Franciscana Descalcez, y su Precedencia seraphica respecto de la chervbica familia de N. P. S. Avgvstín, y demas religiones sagradas sus immediatas.”
Despite the rather dry legal-administrative language there, we learn much from this about
LIFE among the Mexican Franciscans: 1) that they are prohibited to attend bull fights and to play at cards and dice, 2) how they are to address each other, 3) when they may be put to torture in investigations, 4) their penalties for simony, 5) who they may allow to be buried in their churches, 6) how they are to conduct relations with women, and so on as to many, many more aspects of daily life.
And, of course, the volume covers much about the administration of the order, the admission of novices, the pursuit and expression of spiritual life, etc.
The work begins with the title-page printed in black and red in roman with some italic. The text is in roman also, with sidenotes in some sections, and with a sprinkling of interesting woodcut tailpieces.
A dense and interesting work.
Medina, Mexico, 1687; Sabin 76023. Recased in original (?) vellum with four leather ties (two new). Title-leaf mounted; damage to lower third with loss of paper and print including imprint; approbation leaves torn in same portion, repaired with loss of a few words; first leaf of the “Parecer” torn and repaired with no loss. Some worming of both types: pinhole and meander, the latter repaired with archival tissue. Otherwise, occasional light waterstaining only; a solid, serviceable copy. (25559)

DIFFERENCES
Between
France
& Spain
& Frenchmen
& Spaniards
In ITALIAN
García, Carlos. Antipatia de francesi e spagnuoli. Venetia: Presso Cristoforo Tomasini, 1640. 12mo. 216 pp.
$475.00

An expatriate living in Paris, Carlos García (ca. 1575 – ca. 1630) wrote on a variety of topics and in different genres ranging from a picaresque novel to essays on politics. The original Spanish title of the work offered here in Italian translation is La oposicion y conjuncion de los dos grandes luminares de la tierra, and was first published in Paris in 1617. This translation first appeared in 1637 and is from the pen of Clodio Vilopoggio.The subject of this work is the rivalry between Spain and France for political and religious supremacy in the Catholic realm of Europe, but the author also discusses national traits, as he sees them, such as manner of dressing, walking, eating, and talking.
Palau 97802. Recent boards covered with marbled paper; leather spine label gilt with title. Some lower margins irregular due to natural paper flaws. All edges speckled red. A very good copy. (25812)

Royal Emblems — Over 100
LARGE & Elegant Engravings
Gomberville, Marin Le Roy, sieur de. La doctrine des moeurs. Tiree de la philosophie des stoiques: Representee en cent tableaux, et expliquee en cent discours pour l'instruction de la ieunesse. Paris: Pierre Daret (de l'Imprimerie de Louys Sevestre), 1646. Folio (34.7 cm, 13.6"). Frontis., engr. t.-p., [24] pp., 105 ff. (lacking f. 60); illus.
$1100.00
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First edition: Inspired by Otto van Veen's Emblemata Horatiana, these visual representations of edifying precepts from
HORACE were engraved by Pierre Daret for the purpose of assisting the Queen Mother and Cardinal Mazarin with the education of the then eight-year-old King Louis XIV. Each moral is illustrated with a large scene bearing a caption in French verse; the facing page of each bears explication in French and original quotations in Latin; the array are presented in two parts, each with a separate engraved title-page.
While some copies open with an engraved portrait of Gomberville, the present example commences with “La vertu au Roy”: a wholly engraved page bearing a large vignette signed by Daret and a poem beginning “Prince ma gloire et ma deffance” [sic].
Brunet, II, 1656/57; Landwehr 476. Later quarter mottled calf with marbled paper–covered sides, front cover with gilt-stamped green leather label, spine with gilt-stamped rules and compartment decorations; edges rubbed, corners bumped, spine and front joint scuffed with none of this disfiguring. Front free endpaper with neatly inked abbreviated ownership inscription dated 1845 and pencilled annotation. Pages age-toned with scattered spotting and staining; waterstaining variously along a good many leaves' inner portions, sometimes with waterstaining to lower and outer portions also. Folio 60 lacking. One leaf with stray inked lines in lower portion, touching one letter, with one line extending into image. Several leaves with repairs, most generally not touching text or image; one with remaining signs of tear extending into text without loss; one with tear extending into image, upper portion repaired, small area of loss within image; one with repair to tear just touching one letter. Final two leaves creased and stained, with more significant repairs, one tape repair covering upper left portion of image.
Despite wear and accidents, impressive and attractive. (32639)

A PRESBYTERIAN Catechism
Green, Jacob. A small help, offered to heads of families, for instructing children and servants. Morris-town: published by P.A. Johnson (Jacob Mann, printer), 1814. 12mo (14 cm; 5.5"). 36 pp.
$750.00
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Our author (1722–90) was born in Massachusetts and after graduating from Harvard was ordained two years later, assuming the pastorate of the Presbyterian church in Hanover, NJ, where he remained till his death. The first edition of this work on the conduct of life appeared in 1771 from Hugh Gaine's press in New York City and is very rare; this is the second edition. It is mostly presented in the form of a catechism of moral questions for children “to which is added, Directions for self-examination.”
Shaw & Shoemaker 31549; Felcone, New Jersey Books 1801-1860, 732. Stitched into plain brown paper wrappers as issued. Foxing and browning as usual. (31407)
Gros, John Daniel. Natural principles of rectitude, for the conduct of man in all states and situations of life; demonstrated and explained in a systematic treatise on moral philosophy. New York: T. & J. Swords, 1795. 8vo (20 cm, 7.9"). xvi, 456 pp. (lacking half-title).
$495.00
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First edition. Born in Germany, Gros was a pastor and professor of both German and moral philosophy at Columbia University. This work is the text version of a course he taught there, and is the “first treatise on Moral Philosophy written and published in America,” according to Sabin.
ESTC W28659; Evans 28775; Sabin 28933. 19th-century quarter sheep in imitation of morocco, rubbed and worn; covers pressure-stamped by a now-defunct institution, spine with paper shelving label. Half-title lacking, title-page and a number of others stamped, back free endpaper with pocket. Pages clean save for stamps. (9536)

“Advantages of Poverty, & Blessings of Affliction, My Father!”
Hanway, Jonas. Virtue in humble life: containing reflections on relative duties, particularly those of masters and servants ... Various anecdotes of the living and the dead: in two hundred and nine conversations, between a father and his daughter, amidst rural scenes ... with a manual of devotion. London: Printed for Dodsley, in Pall-Mall; Sewel, near the Royal-Exchange; and Bew, in Pater-noster-Row, 1777. 4to (28.4 cm, 11.2"). 2 vols. in 1. I: Frontis., [2] ff., xvii, [1], vii, [1], 323, [1] p., [2] ff., pp. 325 (i.e., 327)–411, [1] p. II: Frontis., vii, [1], 523, [1] p.
$1200.00
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This is the second edition of
father-daughter dialogues intended to strengthen
servants' morals by myriad examples and advice; it was first published as an octavo series in 1774, using much the same content as Hanway's earlier Farmer's Advice to his Daughter (1770). The author (1712–86) was a merchant and philanthropist known not only for his charity, but also for regularly sporting both a sword and an umbrella at a time when neither was fashionable, and for tipping attractive female servants especially well. (He was a prolific author, too.)
Chapters include conversations between daughter Mary and her father on the utmost importance of prayer, sacraments, and charity; the “reciprocal duties of masters and servants”; the “necessity of subordination”; and “caution to female domestics against dancing-meetings,” among many, many other topics large and small.
The text is handsomely printed double-column in roman and italic, with
two finely engraved frontispieces signed by E. Edwards and J. Hall, one at the beginning of each volume: the first of a father and daughter sitting beneath a tree; the second of Hanway seated on a rock, contemplating a book and skull beneath the motto “Never Despair” — the author's own, which he adopted after a particularly grueling merchant voyage for the Russia Company in 1743. Each volume also has its own title-page, the Manual of Devotion, Consisting of Prayers, Psalms, Hymns, and Lessons that appears between the two having its own as well.
ESTC T93949; Goldsmiths-Kress 11624. On Hanway, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online. Contemporary speckled calf, boards framed in a gilt Greek key pattern, gilt board edges and turn-ins, marbled endpapers; recently rebacked, spine gilt extra preserving original gilt-tooled green morocco label and adding a new red one gilt with author and title. Boards stained and scratched in a few places, corners bumped, chipping leather glued down; marbled endpapers repaired with photocopy segments of the original design. Ex-library: stamps on bottom edge, front endpaper, and rear pastedown (only). Mild to moderate foxing on a handful of leaves in each volume, and one small circular stain affecting eight or so pages in first, while pages mostly clean and bright; short closed tear to bottom margin of one leaf in second volume.
Nice. (31089)

Silver Egg Cutters, Linen Doilies, & Frappé Tables: Necessary Items
Lansdown, Lillian B. How to prepare and serve a meal. Interior decoration. New York: Social Culture Publications, © 1922. 8vo. 64 pp.
$45.00
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First edition: Formal serving arrangements and menu suggestions for households that make regular use of waitstaff and butler's pantries, serve squab breasts at luncheon, and accept that offering fruit at breakfast requires finger bowls on the table — while still needing a reminder that to include a salad at a formal afternoon tea is “to commit a social solecism” (p. 32). One chapter is titled “Outside the Eighteenth Amendment,” and describes the appropriate serving methods for various wines and liqueurs; menus are offered for Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Lent; the last six chapters are dedicated to general principles of home decorating.
This is the original edition and
not a modern reprint.
Bitting 273; Brown, Culinary Americana, 2914. Publisher's textured paper wrappers, front wrapper with printed title; extremities rubbed. Pages slightly age-toned, otherwise clean.
A delightfully aspirational read. (29727)

Political Doctrine by Lipsius
Lipsius, Justus. Les politiques de Iuste Lipsius: Comprenans en six livres la Doctrine qui concerne principalement le devoir du Prince & Magistrat Souverain, en temps de Paix & de Guerre, au gouvernement de l'Estat. Geneva: Pierre & Jacques Chouet, 1613. 12mo (13.97 cm, 5.5"). [24] ff., 618 (i.e., 634) pp., [19] ff.
$600.00
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Second edition of political essays by the Belgian humanist Lipsius (Joest Lips, 1547–1606), with commentary by the author on the first three books and the beginning of the fourth, and with three newly edited indices at the end. Translated from the original Latin Politicorum sive civilis doctrinae libri sex (first edition 1589) by the French minister Simon Goulart (1543–1628), these six books, which draw heavily on classical authors (especially Tacitus), hold that the best form of government is principality, i.e., rule by one for the good of all, and that prudence and virtue are the very conditions of
civility.
The text is printed in roman and italic, with side- and shouldernotes; it is decorated with elegant woodcut initials against a floriated background, one factotum, a handful of head- and tailpieces, and a couple of small vignettes. The woodcut printer's device on the title-page has the monogram “AT” beneath a dolphin & anchor combination with the motto festina tarde, reminiscent of the Aldine device.
This edition is not in NUC Pre-1956, and WorldCat locates
just one copy in the U.S. (with a variant imprint, “A Cologny”).
Evidence of readership: A short biography of Lipsius in French has been written on the fly-leaves in early ink.
Early vellum over flexible boards, somewhat stained and rubbed; evidence of four ties, and ink title to spine. Cropped close with very minor loss to a couple of running headlines and side- or shouldernotes; a few corner-tips torn away and a few stains only; instances variously of slightest perceptible worming and outer margin of pp. 585–98 holed by an insect affecting the sidenotes on those leaves, with lesser evidence of the same gnawing to rear pastedown and back cover. (29885)

Children's Guide to Worthy Lives: Victorianly Appealing
Matéaux, Clara L. Brave lives and noble. London, Paris, & New York: Cassell & Co., 1883. 8vo (24.7 cm, 9.75"”). Frontis., viii, 320 pp.; illus.
$100.00
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First edition: Biographies of upstanding international historical figures, aimed at juvenile audiences and heavily illustrated with both full-page and in-text steel engravings by various hands. Written with much emotion and imagination by an author known for her edifying children's works, these 50 lives include accounts of Joan of Arc, William Penn, Robert Clive, Mary Stuart, John Brown, Grace Darling, Abraham Lincoln, and others known for their heroism or virtue. The text was later published under the title Noble Lives and Brave Deeds, with
WorldCat locating only three U.S. institutional holdings
of this first appearance.
Binding: Publisher's green cloth, front cover decorated with black-stamped oak branch motif, gilt-stamped title, and gilt-stamped vignette of a rescuer saving a drowning boy, spine gilt- and black-stamped, back cover blind-stamped.
NSTC 0497352. Binding as above; spine slightly darkened, edges and extremities lightly rubbed, paper cracking at front hinge (inside). Front free endpaper with early pencilled ownership inscription. A very few scattered small spots of foxing, pages otherwise clean.
Educational and pretty. (30648)

Doing Good in the World
Mather, Cotton. Essays to do good, addressed to all Christians, whether in public or private capacities. Johnstown [NY]: Pr. & sold by Asa Child, 1815. 12mo. xxv, [2], 28–195, [1] p.
$300.00
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This is an early, provincial New York edition of George Burder's revision of Cotton Mather's guide to moral living and philanthropy. Edition statement: “A new edition, improved by George Burder. From the latest Boston and London editions.” The original 1710 edition was published under the title Bonifacius. An Essay upon the Good, that is to be devised and designed, by Those who desire to answer the great End of life, and to Do Good while they live.
Benjamin Franklin was among those who acknowledged the book's great influence on his life.
Preliminary pages include the testimonials or “Recommendations” (pp. iii–iv) and a “Preface” (pp. [xiii]–xxv). At the end are “On fulfilling engagements and paying debts. From a sermon by the late President Edwards,” “On the religious education of children. (From the Christian observer),” “On sanctifying the Sabbath-Day. By Sir Matthew Hale. (From the same),” and the table of contents.
Holmes, Cotton Mather, 112-E2; Shaw & Shoemaker 35227. Publisher's sheep with a neat gilt red leathr label; binding dry, front joint (outside) starting. Ex–social club library: small 19th-century paper label at top of spine, 19th-century bookplate, call number on endpaper, no other markings. (29293)
For PRE-1820 AMERICANA,
click here.
For
RELIGION, click here.

An Attractive American Set in Seven Volumes
More, Hannah. The works of Hannah More. New York : Harper & Brothers, 1855. Small 12mo. 7 vols. I: Frontis., engr. t-p., ix., [3] ff., 416 pp. II: Engr. t-p., 428 pp. III: Engr. t-p., 442 pp. IV: Engr. t-p., 448 pp. V: Engr. t-p., 393 pp. VI: Engr. t-p., 440 pp. VII: Engr. t-p., 429 pp.
$450.00
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“Complete in seven volumes.” Each volume has an added engraved title-page, with vignette, and the first one offers
a frontispiece portrait from the painting by Opie.
A newspaper clipping of a portrait of Hannah More taken from an engraving after the painting by H. W. Pickersgill, lies loose inside first volume.
Contemporary half red sheep in imitation of morocco over marbled cloth-covered boards, spines with gilt-accented raised bands, gilt lettering on spines. All edges marbled. Leather rubbed and scraped with some chips on spine, joints, and edges; pp. 421–34 of vol. VI have some shallow tears and chips from being bumped, fore-edge of one leaf folded back, without affecting text. Front joint of vol. VII starting from top edge. Some foxing throughout. Clean and complete. (21439)
[Nares, Edward]. Heraldic anomalies; or, rank confusion in our orders of precedence, With disquisitions, moral, philosophical, and historical, on all the existing orders of society. By It Matters Not Who. London: G. and W.B. Whittaker (pr. by R. Gilbert), 1823. 8vo (19.7 cm, 7.75"). 2 vols. I: xxii, [2], 334, [2 (1 blank)] pp. II: [4], 372 pp.
$250.00
First edition of these entertaining, historically informed meditations on the quirks and peculiarities of heraldic issues such as the niceties of the usage of “Lady” before and after marriage, the symbolism and history of wigs, and the nature of academic titles. A whole chapter is dedicated to Quakers, who reject all worldly titles.
Single-click the image where the hand appears on
mouse-over, for an enlargement.
Though Nares is quite capable of picking nits with a level of scrupulousness to match that of the most pedantic of scholars, he is also prone to flights of fancy such as pondering—after noting that a married woman’s moveable goods are unquestionably the property of her husband— “whether the female tongue is to be reckoned among the moveables . . . I believe it is pretty generally held to continue ‘in potestate Mulieris,’ even after marriage, and I know nothing to prevent it” (p. 148). This is followed up with references to Ovid, the Wife of Bath, and the much-storied Flitch of Bacon!
Contemporary half calf with marbled paper sides, spines with gilt-stamped helm decorations and gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels (the volume labels recently supplied, in sympathetic style). Board edges showing light to moderate wear, with leather cracking at joints and crackled over the spines generally. Top edges gilt. Front pastedowns with bookplates now partially torn away; title-page of vol. II with an early inked ownership inscription in the upper margin. Delightful reading, as well as an overall attractive set.

Saving
the Souls of
the Rich
via
CHARITY
Nelson,
Robert. An address to persons of quality
and estate ... To which is added, an appendix of some original and valuable
papers. [with another related title, as below]. London: A. & G. Way,
prs., 1715. 8vo (21.9 cm, 8.6"). Frontis., xxxi, [1], 267, [1], 55, [7] pp.
[with] A poem in memory of Robert Nelson Esquire. London:
Pr. by Geo. James for Richard Smith, at Bishop Beveridge’s-Head, 1715.
8vo. 21, [3] pp.
$675.00
First edition: Nelson, a philanthropist and popular religious
writer, reminds the wealthy and well bred of their charitable obligations as
Christians. After exhorting the rich to consider their salvation, Nelson solicits
their support for such endeavors as building churches, funding the Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel, maintaining poor clergy and their families, founding
seminaries and schools, relieving prisoners, and establishing houses for the
improvement of ladies (both proper and fallen). The appendix provides texts
of various proposals as well as statistics on numbers of residents in hospitals
and schools.
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The frontispiece portrait of Nelson was engraved by George Vertue after a painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller. The volume also includes all publisher's advertisements as well as the rather
uncommon Poem in Memory of Robert Nelson Esquire.
This was produced to be a handsome work, printed in large type on good paper with wide margins — the better to appeal to a “quality” audience?
ESTC T85360; Goldsmiths’-Kress 5249. Poem: ESTC T25431; Foxon P538. Contemporary speckled calf, framed and panelled in blind with blind-tooled corner fleurons; rebacked with speckled calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, raised bands, and blind-tooled foliate compartment decorations. Original leather abraded, front cover with small chip to outer edge and area of faint discoloration from a now-absent label; title-page institutionally rubber-stamped (no other markings). Some signatures browned and foxed, most pages clean. (25999)

Pleasant Thoughts on
Congenial Spirits
The Philipena, or friendship's token: A present for all seasons. Boston: G.W. Cottrell & Co.; New York: T.W. Strong, [1848]. 16mo. Col. frontis., 126 pp.
$75.00
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Petite, pretty gift book: stories and poems dedicated to the happy rewards of virtuous domestic life. The volume opens with an
illuminated color-printed frontispiece; present here are “Social Life, or the Plains of Matrimony,” “The Heart That's True,” “Marrying for Money,” “A Good Daughter,” “Worth and Wealth,” “Congenial Spirits,” etc.
Binding: Publisher's brown cloth, covers framed in blind, front cover with gilt-stamped urn of flowers, back cover with same design in blind. All edges gilt.
Faxon 655. Bound as above, corners bumped/rubbed and base of rear joint and spine a little rubbed; gilt bright. Endpapers with early pencilled inscriptions, frontispiece with adhesion of a sliver of paper from title-page along inner margin, title-page with brown spot in lower margin offset onto lower edge of frontispiece. Sewing loosening with some early and final leaves starting to separate, title-page all but separated. Pages generally clean, with a few scattered spots; one upper margin with pencilled inscription mostly erased. A read and cherished copy, still sweetly sentimental and interesting to look at. (30368)

An AMERICAN Statesman in London — First Series
Rush, Richard. Memoranda of a residence at the court of London. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Blanchard, 1833. 8vo (22 cm, 8.7"). 460 pp.
$200.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First U.S. edition of the first series about Rush's involvement with the negotiations between Great Britain and the United States on the question of the treatment of slaves under the treaty of Ghent, the northwestern boundary between the United States and British possessions, Spanish affairs, West Indian trade, and other “diplomatic maneuvers” including the conflicting claims to Oregon (Howes). Rush was the American envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from 1817 to 1825; in addition to the political content, he here provides a good amount of information on his
social and cultural activities while in London.
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)

An
AMERICAN
Statesman
in London
Second
Series
Rush, Richard. Memoranda of a residence at the court of London, comprising incidents official and personal from 1819 to 1825. Including negotiations on the Oregon question, and other unsettled questions between the United States and Great Britain. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1845. 8vo (24.5 cm, 9.6"). xii, 640 pp.
$100.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition of the second series about Rush's involvement with
the negotiations between Great Britain and the United States on the conflicting
claims to Oregon, and other “diplomatic maneuvers” (Howes). Rush
was the American envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from 1817
to 1825; in addition to the political content, he here provides a good amount
of information on his
social
and cultural activities while in London.
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.
Yes,
in its way, this belongs in this catalogue! (26480)
Canandaigua
Imprint
Sampson, Ezra. The brief remarker on the ways of man. Or compendious dissertations, respecting social and domestic relations and concerns, and the various economy of life; designed for, and adapted to,
the use of American academies and common schools. Canandaigua, N.Y.: Pr. by J.D. Bemis & Co., 1821. 12mo. 264 pp.
$65.00


A nice Finger Lakes region edition of this uncommon title. 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)

Men & Women
Equally Responsible for “Cultivation of the Home Sentiment”
Sargent, Charles E. Our home or emanating influences of the hearthstone. Springfield, MA: King-Richardson Co., 1899. 8vo. [4], xiii–616 pp.; 8 plts.
$75.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Allegedly an unsentimental, scientific examination of the various
aspects of home life, this is actually a warmly written paean to the joys of
a loving family and a nurturing home life, intended to help keep “the
street and the public hall” from “usurping the kingdom of the fireside”
(p. xiii). The chapters on making home a happy, peaceful place are sprinkled
with poetical quotations and literary excerpts describing pleasant domestic
scenes, and
illustrated
with eight steel-engraved plates done by A.E. Francis and C.
Etherington.
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)

“It is a Difficult Thing to Manoeuvre
a Determined Woman in the Country”
Surtees, Robert Smith. Ask Mamma; or, the richest commoner in England. London: [Whitefriars Press, 1888]. 8vo (22.6 cm, 8.9"). viii, [4], 423, [1] pp.; 14 col. plts., 18 plts.
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
Unopened copy, from a subscription edition: A satirical
look at
provincial
English manners via the matrimonial endeavors of young
Billy Pringle and other assorted beaux and belles with serious social (and financial)
aspirations. The preface says, “It may be a recommendation to the lover
of light literature to be told, that the following story does not involve the
complication of a plot. It is a mere continuous narrative of an almost everyday
exaggeration, interspersed with sporting scenes and excellent illustrations
by leech”
(p. iii). The author was a sporting writer and novelist whose keen-eyed chronicles
of the golden age of foxhunting were thought to carry a whiff of the vulgar
in their day (Allibone did not deign to mention any of his fiction) —
but are now appreciated for Surtees's “mordant observations on men, women,
and manners; his entertaining array of eccentrics, rakes, and rogues; his skill
in the construction of lively dialogue (a matter over which he took great pains);
his happy genius for unforgettable and quotable phrases . . .” (DNB).
Although the present example of his work features slightly less hunting material
than some of Surtees's other novels, that is still to say that it offers
a
great many scenes of horse and hound. First published
in 1858 in 13 monthly parts, it appears here “printed for subscribers
from the plates of the Original Edition issued by Bradbury, Agnew & Co.”
The volume is illustrated with
14
hand-colored and 18 steel-engraved plates by famed
caricaturist John Leech. Virtually every plate that does not
feature at least one horse does display at least one pretty dress; the coloring
is skillfully and pleasingly done.
Binding: Publisher's crimson
cloth, front cover and spine stamped with wooing and hunting vignettes and
hound decorations in black and gilt.
NCBEL, III, 967. On Surtees, see: Oxford Dictionary
of National Biography online. Binding as above, spine much sunned
but covers bright and fresh, corners with minor shelfwear, back lower outer
corner lightened. Signatures unopened. Lower outer fore-edge once wet, waterstaining
visible almost exclusively on closed edges only and with title-page (only)
showing lightly tinted tide mark in that corner. Despite its minor issues
a tremendously charming volume. (30438)
For
more SURTEES, click here
& Scroll to the S's.

“Kneel Side by Side”
Wise, Daniel. Bridal greetings: A marriage gift,
in which the mutual duties of husband and wife are familiarly illustrated and enforced. New York: Carlton & Phillips, 1852. 16mo. Frontis., 160 pp.
$42.50
Click the images for enlargements.
Second edition, following the first of 1850, of these dicta regarding proper Christian management of the connubial state. “If the reader expects to find highly wrought sentimentality or romantic fancies in the succeeding pages, he had better lay them down, and seek for gratification elsewhere,” (p. 3) — but there is some sweetness here in the exhortations to mutual dedication.
This has a very pretty engraved title-page, acting as frontispiece; between the arched words “Bridal Greetings,” above and below, is a bridal bouquet of emblematic flowers, signed F.E. Jones.
Binding: Publisher's textured red cloth, covers framed in blind, front cover with gilt-stamped rose vignette, spine gilt extra. All edges gilt.
Not in Faxon. Binding as above, cocked, extremities lightly rubbed, front cover with tiny dark spatter; joints each with small instance of insect damage. Front free endpaper with pencilled annotation. Moderate foxing throughout. (30370)
For CHILDREN / EDUCATION,
click here.
