MARYLAND
MARYLAND
The
MARYLAND Seal Makes Its Debut 
(A
Handsomely Printed Law Book).
Maryland. Laws, statutes, etc. Laws of Maryland
at large, with proper indexes. Now first collected into one compleat body, and
published from the original acts and records, remaining in the secretary’s-office
of the said province. Together with notes and other matters, relative to the Constitution
thereof, extracted from the provincial records. To which is prefixed, the charter,
with an English translation. By Thomas Bacon, Rector of All-Saints Parish in Frederick
County, and Domestic Chaplain in Maryland to the Right Honourable Frederick Lord
Baltimore. Annapolis: Printed by Jonas Green, printer to the province, MDCCLXV
[1765]. Folio extra. [736] pp.
unexcelled by any other production of an American colonial press. Additionally, it is commonly thought that this work marks the first appearance of the Maryland seal, carved on a wood block by Thomas Sparrow, an employee of the printer.
Click the interior image for an enlargement. Provenance: Signature on title-page of Bruce J. Worthington, dated 1794; of Ethan Allen, dated 1856; of John H. Alexander, Esq.; in the library of the Maryland Diocesan Library (deaccessioned).
• Evans 10049; Wroth, Maryland, 254; Sabin 45186. Recent full calf, old style, by Grace Bindings (signed “G.B.” on lower turn-in of inside back cover), with gilt tooling on covers and spine, raised bands on spine, red title-label. Title-page browned around the edges and with some loss of paper; leaf now backed as is the last (bookseller's advertisements). Maryland Diocesan library stamp (deaccessioned as above) on title-page. Dedication page with very old repair along inner area of blank verso. Old dampstaining to early and late leaves and a few other places; occasional stray spots or small stains. Complete with the errata/advertisement leaf. A handsome, impressive volume. (20605)
Steam
Engines Improved Henderson, William M. Patent No. 53,613: Improvement in steam engines. [Washington, D.C.: United States Patent Office, 1866]. Folio (appr. 50 × 27 cm, 20" × 14.5"). [4] ff. 
William M. Henderson of Baltimore for “improvements in the mode of constructing and operating direct-action independent steam engines.” F. [1] is the patent itself on an engraved form, with the hand signature of Secretary of the Interior W.I. Otto; f. [2] is a drawing, with some coloring in blue and red, of the device as improved upon, and [3–4] is Henderson’s official description of it.
• Laced together with a silk ribbon. Some small spots of browning on drawing and elsewhere adjacent to ribbon; a little soiling exterior and along edges; and a few tiny tears in edges.
The
“Laws of the Sea”
at a Time When
England Was!
the
Law on the Seas
Jacobsen, Friedrich Johann. Laws of the sea, with reference to maritime commerce during peace and war. Baltimore: Edward J. Coale, (J. Robinson, printer), 1818. 8vo (22 cm; 8.75"). xxxv, [1], 636 pp.
Published at a critical period in America's commercial history, this work presents the then prevailing international law on such matters as shipwreck, salvage, abandonment, blockages, embargoes, delivery, demurrage, and neutrality, to mention just a few topics.
The Months in Verse Jerningham, Matilda. Random rhymes from January to December. By Mrs. Jerningham. Baltimore: The Authoress (Pr. by Sherwood & Co.), 1873. 8vo. viii, 192 pp.
• Publisher's light-blue cloth, spine and front cover with gilt title, and front with black-stamped tree branch. Binding has small spots of discoloration, small ink stain on front, and patches of soiling and rubbing; spine with small chips at base, minor loss of cloth at tips. (23494)
FromNew England to the NILE[Justel, Henri, ed.]. Recueil de divers voyages faits en Afrique et en l’Amerique, qui n’ont point esté encore publiez.... Paris: Louis Billaine, 1674. 4to (23.7 cm, 9.4"). á4ã4A–Z4Aa–Hh4 Ii2Kk4Ll21§–4§45§2 **A–**C4 a2b–g4 *A–*K4L2; [8] ff., 262, 35, [1 (blank)] 23, [1 (blank)], 49, [1 (blank)] pp., [1] f., 81, [1 (blank)] pp., 3 fold. plans, 4 maps (3 fold.), 9 plts.
Some of both the voyages and the maps make their first published appearances here—among them the New England map depicting the 
Maryland and Virginia coastlines, engraved by R. Michault after one contained in Richard Blome’s Description of the Island of Jamaica, part of which work appears here translated into French. 
Altogether, a volume notable both for its strong African and North American content and for the aesthetic appeal of its plates and pleasingly ornamented typography.
Single-click images where the hand appears on
• Sabin 36944; Alden & Landis
674/159; Beinecke Lesser Antilles Collection 68; Baer, 17th-Century Maryland, 78. Recent 17th-century style mottled calf with covers framed in a gilt roll and double-panelled in gilt fillets with gilt-stamped corner fleurons,; spine with gilt-stamped leather title and author labels and gilt-stamped decorative devices. Several pages (not including title) and the versos of a few plates stamped by a now-defunct institution. Paper slightly embrittled. Light waterstaining to a number of leaves and plates, mostly in margins; the first map with two repairs. One leaf (blank?) prior to Colonies Angloises excised. A good copy, in a handsome binding of recent vintage and contemporaneous style.
A Chicago
Pre-Fire IssueMcClellan,
George Brinton. Report of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan upon the
organization of the army of the Potomac and its campaigns in Virginia andMaryland from
July 26, 1861, to November 7, 1862. Re-printed entire from the copy transmitted
by the Secretary of War to the House of Representatives. Chicago: Times Steam
Book and Job Printing Establishment, 1864. 8vo (22 cm, 8.7"). 145, [1 (blank)]
pp.
Single-click either image • Recent wrappers. Pages clean; two leaves shaved at bottom with very minor loss.
“A Second Edition of My Mutilated Poems”Neal, John. The battle of Niagara: Second edition — enlarged: With other poems. 
Baltimore: N.G. Maxwell (pr. by B. Edes), 1819. 18mo (15.6 cm, 6.2"). Add. engr. t.-p., 272 pp. 
• BAL 14856; Shaw & Shoemaker 48824; Wegelin 1066. On Neal, see: Dictionary of American Biography, XIII, 398–99. Period-style quarter tan cloth over light blue paper–covered boards, spine with printed paper label. Dedication page and a few others (not including title) stamped by a now-defunct institution. Waterstaining to upper margins and some inner page parts, with final leaves darkened and a few spotted with foxing. Some upper edges chipped; final leaf with inner margin repaired.
Militia, Provide Yourselves Each with a
“Good Musket or Firelock” United States. Congress. Senate. [drop-title] A bill to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia of the United States. [Washington: 1812]. 8vo. 18 pp. 
Mr.
Smith, of Maryland, obtained leave to bring in the following
bill, which was read and passed to the second reading.”
Click
the image for an enlargement.
“[A]fter the passing of this act, the militia of the United States shall be composed of all able bodied white male citizens of the respective states, resident therein, who shall respectively be of the age of twenty years and under the age of forty years.”
Scarce: Only one holding located via OCLC (at US Navy Department Library, Naval Historical Center); not in RLIN.
• Not in Shaw & Shoemaker. Removed from a nonce volume. Uncut copy. Ink numeral at top of first page. A few light spots. (13790)
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