
MILITARY NAVAL
A-E
F-L
M-R
S-Z
Artillery Illustrated
Saint-Remy, Pierre Surirey de. Memoires d'artillerie, où il est traité des mortiers, petards, arquebuses à croc, mousquets, fusils, & c. ... Amsterdam: Pierre Mortier, 1702. 4to (23 cm, 9"). 2 vols. I: Frontis., [18], 348 pp.; 106 (of 114) plts. II: [6], 386, [2] pp.; 64 (of 70) plts.
$1875.00
Uncommon Amsterdam issue following the Parisian first edition of 1697: One of the earliest treatises published on artillery, an important and often-cited guidebook to the weaponry of the time. The two volumes are illustrated with
171 (of 179) copper-engraved plates, many oversized and folding, depicting handguns, arsenals, and weapons manufacturing.
Brunet, V, 595 (listing 1745 ed. only). Recent period-style speckled calf (signed by Grace Bindings in blind at inner area of rear cover, lower turn-in), covers framed and panelled in gilt rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons, spines with gilt-stamped leather title labels, gilt-ruled raised bands, and gilt-stamped compartment decorations. Vol. I frontispiece separated (and trimmed within its plate mark) but present. Variable waterstaining to pages and plates; one oversized folding plate bound in upside-down and one with tears along folds. Imperfect for sure — and full of interest. (20680)
I
CAPTURED
Their Guns
& I
Seized Their Press
Sámano, Juan. El excelentisímo señor don Juan Sámano, mariscal de campo de los reales exércitos, virrey electo del reyno y comandante general de la tercera división del Exército expedicionario pacificador de Costa Firme, ha recibido el oficio que sigue del ecmo. Señor teniente general, Don Pablo Morillo General en Xefe del mismo. [Santafé de Bogotá]: Impreso por Orden Superior, por J[osé] M[anuel] G[alagarza], 1818. Folio (30.7 cm, 12.125") [2] ff.
$1750.00
Commander of the Royalist forces and soon-to-be viceroy Juan Sámano publishes for the general public Gen. Morillo's operational report of 12 December 1817, from Calabozo, Venezuela. In it the Royalist general details his successful campaigns against Simón Bolívar and José Antonio Páez. He details the arms and armaments captured and records that in one engagement not only obtained two fine bronze cannons, but also one of Bolívar's portable presses! Posada, Bibliografía bogotana, II, 322. Very fine condition.
Military
Law &
Articles of War
1816 Sole
Edition
Samuel, E.
An historical account of the British army, and of the law military, as declared
by the ancient and modern statutes, and articles of war for its government;
with a free commentary on the mutiny act, and the rules and articles of war;
illustrated by various decisions of courts martial. London: William Clowes,
1816. 8vo (21.5 cm, 8.5"). xvi, 734 pp., [1 (blank)] f.
$450.00

Click
the interior image for an enlargement.
Samuel gives the history and practice of British military law from Anglo-Saxon times to 1816. This is the sole edition of this work, and it appears to be the first comprehensive historical treatment of the subject. Among other matters it covers mutiny, desertion, quarrels and challenges, and the administration of justice.
Sweet & Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth, I, 602. Quarter green sheep over marbled paper, somewhat rubbed and front free endpaper partially detached. Scattered foxing and age-spotting, occasional pencilled marginalia. More than presentable!

The Face of Battle
Sassoon, Siegfried. Memoirs of an infantry officer. New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1981. Small folio. xvii, 224, [4 (3 blank)] pp.; 8 plts.
$110.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Siegfried Sassoon was one of a celebrated group of soldier-poets who experienced firsthand the ghastly realities of life in the trenches and whose words form an important part of Britain's cultural memory of the Great War. Sassoon's Memoirs covers some of the war's most significant actions, including its single bloodiest day, when 60,000 British soldiers were killed on 1 July 1916, at the Battle of the Somme.
Paul Hogarth's eight full-page watercolors and over a dozen black-and-white vignettes vividly illustrate the bomb-churned landscape of no-man's land, the explosions of rifle and gunfire, and the irony of well-fed generals enjoying life behind the lines. Dennis J. Grastorf designed the book using a 12-point Baskerville font with two points leading space in between the lines. The binding is a natural-tone rough linen, stamped in black on each cover with a bugle design. David Daiches wrote the introduction.
This edition is limited to 2,000 copies and this offering includes the monthly newsletter. The colophon is signed by the artist.
Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 519. Binding as above; slipcase with two short scratches on back. Fine, in a fine slipcase. (22078)
One Drop-Dead Catalogue
Schütte, Ulrich. Architekt und Ingenieur: Baumeister in Krieg und Frieden. Wolfenbüttel: Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel, 1984. 4to. Frontis., 415 pp., illus.
$38.50
Outstanding catalogue of an exhibition on architecture and engineering in time of war and of peace: books, cannon, instruments, drawings, and on and on.
“Ausstellungskataloge der Herzog August Bibliothek Nr. 42.” Text in German.
Great reference work.
Publisher's soft covers. Top right corner bumped. (22585)
(Seven Years War). Sem razaõ de entrarem em Portugal as tropas castelhanas como amigas, e razaõ de serem recebidas como inimigas. Lisboa, 1762. 4to (20 cm, 8"). [1] f., 55, [1 (blank)], 8, 6, 6, 4, 3, [1 (blank)], 3, [1 (blank)], 3, [1 (blank)] pp.
$400.00

During the Seven Years War, Portugal gave support to her traditional ally Great Britain, especially the use of her ports, and with the entry of Spain into the war, the Spanish tried to put a stop to it. First they tried diplomacy, and when that failed they invaded their neighbor, as is here documented. They were beaten off by the Portuguese with British assistance, thus reinforcing Portuguese distrust of their Castilian neighbors and their close ties with Great Britain.
Palau 307020. Wrappers stencilled in green with manuscript title on paper label affixed to front wrapper; all edges speckled red. Wrappers with a few tears and a little tattering. Small wormhole in front fly-leaf. A few pencil marks. Inked number on verso of front fly-leaf.

Conquest
of Mexico — FIRST
Edition in English
TALL
FOLIO
Solís, Antonio de. The history of the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. Done into English...by Thomas Townsend. London: Pr. for T. Woodward, & J. Hooke, 1724. Tall folio. [9] ff., 163, [1 (blank)], 252, 152 pp.
$600.00
Many editions of Solís's eminently readable history have come down the pike since the first appeared in Madrid in 1684. The present one is the first edition in English. Solís was an official court historian and as such had access not only to published sources but also to archival sources not previously used. Despite writing while the Baroque era flourished in Spain, his prose is remarkably unornamented or convoluted. This clarity of style when combined with the stirring and near-mythic events of the conquest of Mexico has accounted for the hundreds of editions that have come down to us.
Sabin 86487; Medina, Biblioteca hispano-americana, 1773n; Palau 318693; European Americana 724/165. Recent quarter calf, antique style: Round spine with raised bands accented with gilt rules and beading; gilt center devices; marbled paper sides. Ex-library copy with stamps. First few leaves crumpled in lower margins; last dozen leaves foxed, sometimes heavily. Lacks all plates and maps except one map—yet pleasing to the reader.


In
Two Neat
Octavo Volumes
. . . ILLUSTRATED
Solis [y Ribadeneyra], Antonio de. The history of the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. Translated...by Thomas Townsend, Esq; the whole translation revised and corrected by Nathanael Hooke, Esq.... The third edition. London: Pr. for H. Lintot, et al., 1753. 2 vols. 8vo (20.7 cm, 8.1"). I: Fold. frontis., xvi, 384; 2 fold. maps, 4 fold. plts. II: [2], x, 386; 2 fold. plts.
900.00


Attractive copy of this classic history of the conquest of Mexico, written by one of Spain's most influential historians of the baroque era of the 17th century. Solís's work was enormously popular and was translated into various modern European languages, usually appearing in more than one edition in any given language. Here it appears in its third English edition, with handsome engravings including a portrait of Cortés. Some bibliographies call for three folding plates in vol. II, but Sabin notes that virtually all of the copies he had seen had had two only, as is the case with the present copy.
Sabin 86491. Recently rebound in distinguished-looking calf, covers framed in double gilt fillets, spines with raised gilt-ruled bands and gilt-stamped crimson title labels. Vol. II lacking one plate. Title-pages with library cancels over original oval stamps; three library stamps in addition to those, in each volume. Plates generally in excellent condition, some with light offsetting, one with small edge tear touching image, one with short fold tear touching image, and the most oversized plate with long tear along innermost fold. A pleasing duo.
Spain.
Sovereign (1759–88, Charles III). Declaracion sobre puntos
esenciales de la ordenanza de milicias provinciales de España, que interin
se regla la formal que corresponde à estos cuerpos, se debe observar como
tal en todas sus partes. México: en la oficina de don Mariano Ontiveros,
1823. 12mo. Frontis., [17] ff., 206 pp.
$850.00
Click
images in the middle and on the right for enlargement.
First promulgated in 1767 and printed and reprinted several times, as late as 1851 in fact, this small pocketbook publication explains the essentials of the Spanish ordinances regulating the provincial militia. In the colonial era of Mexico the local militia were naturally organized precisely as those in the peninsula; and following Mexico's achievement of independence, the only model available was that of the colonial era — so, Mexico continued to use it and here republishes the essentials in handy format.The frontispiece to this publication is a woodcut of the Mexican Imperial coat of arms.
Searches of OCLC, RLIN, and NUC locate only three copies in U.S. libraries.
Not in Sutro. Contemporary treed sheep with modest blind-tooled flowers on spine. Brown stain in upper margin of many leaves, not near text. Private ownership stamp in blind on title-page. Generally a clean copy.
The
Commonwealth & The
Inspector General
on Organizing the
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, 585 (lacking prelim.
ff., pp. 14 & 81/82), [1 (blank)] pp. (lacking plts.)
$325.00
Developing state and private militia companies proved to be a troublesome
issue for Pennsylvania well into the 18th century, largely because of Quaker
influence; the first Militia Act was not passed until 1755, and the first document
in this 1807 volume implies that the system was still in flux, at least to some
degree. The militia regulations passed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly
in 1807, here in a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, imprint of the same year, update
and in some particulars supercede the Act of 1802; they are here bound as issued
with Baron von Steuben's classic military treatise printed in the same year
by the same publisher.
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 todayand
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.
For more PRE-1820 AMERICANA, click
here.
[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.
$275.00
Third edition of these letters from France, written by expatriate Englishmen who describe the state of contemporary political affairs while France mobilized in preparation for war; the missives are annotated by an anonymous editor who urges the public to beware “the devices of these profligate traitors” (p. x). The first letter is signed by Stone, with the others bearing no attributions—although the third letter mentions a French translation by M. Say of the writer’s “Swiss Travels,” which seems to indicate Helen Maria Williams. Meriting brief references are such interesting topics as the state of Catholicism in France, the
vulnerability
of American ships, and an expected shipment of pearl ash on its way from America.
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.
$200.00
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.
$215.00
Federalist protest against both the proposed American involvement
in the War of 1812 and the secretive nature of the discussions held by Congress
on the topic, signed by George Sullivan and 33 others including Samuel Taggart,
Josiah Quincy, Benjamin Tallmadge, and James Breckenridge. Of the numerous printings
of this address, the present Vermont printing is among those less commonly encountered.
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.

Much
Funereal Detail . . .
(Taylor, Zachary). Obituary addresses delivered
on the occasion of the death of Zachary Taylor, president of the United States,
in
the Senate
and House of Representatives, July 10, 1850; with the funeral sermon by the
Rev. Smith Pyne, D.D. rector of St. John's church, Washington, preached in the
presidential mansion, July 13, 1850. Washington: William M. Belt, 1850. 8vo.
Frontis., 107, [5 (blank)] pp.
$90.00
Zachary Taylor's sudden death (possibly from eating a bowl of bad cherries) was a shock to the nation. His funeral took place in Washington on July 12th, 1850, with an estimated 100,000 people attending the funeral procession. The presidential hearse was drawn by eight white horses accompanied by grooms dressed in white and wearing white turbans. Behind the hearse were military units, pall-bearers (drawn from the ranks of Congress, the military, and the Supreme Court), the president's beloved horse "Old Whitey," his family, and a long line of citizens. The procession stretched over two miles. This book has a detailed account of the procession as well as speeches by many Washington dignitaries 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)
For
more POST-1820 AMERICANA, click
here.
Tarazona, Francisco de. Carta que escrivio del exercito el padre Fr. Francisco de Tarazona, lector de artes en el convento de los capuchinos de Pamplona, al padre guardian de los capuchinos del convento de Zaragoça. Madrid: Por la viuda de Juan Gonçalez, [1638]. Folio (28.2 cm, 11.1"). [4] ff.
$600.00
Description of military maneuvers by the Neapolitan Marquis of Torrecusa and Don Pedro Girón, composed by one Capuchin monk and addressed to another.
Click the image for an enlargement.
Almirante, Bibliografía militar de España, 693; Palau 327595. Removed from a nonce volume. Pages creased and age-toned. Trimmed closely; upper lines shaved, with loss of a few letters.
(Textbook Military Science). The journal of the Battle of Fontenoy: As it was drawn up, and published by order of His Most Christian Majesty. Translated from the French. London: M. Cooper, 1745. Folio (30.6 cm, 12"). 8 pp.
$600.00


A report, in official form, of the French victory at Fontenoy
over the British during the War of the Austrian Succession. Fontenoy was a
set-piece battle, and a standard object of study for military science in the
18th century.
This work is rare: A search of ESTC, NUC Pre-1946, RLIN, and OCLC revealed
only
one
copy.
ESTC T13180. In recent marbled wrappers. Uncut copy: some
soiling and deckle edges with some chipping with loss of part of a letter in
one place. Paper lightly age-toned. Rubber-stamps from a now-defunct library,
including one on title-page.
Toone, William. The chronological historian; or a record of public events, historical, political, biographical, literary, domestic, and miscellaneous; principally illustrative of the ecclesiastical, civil, naval, and military history of Great Britain and its dependencies, from the invasion of Julius Cæsar to the present time... Second edition. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green, 1828. 8vo (21.8 cm, 8.55"). 2 vols. I: [1] f., ii, 664 pp. II: [1] f., 747, [1] pp.
$250.00

Second edition of this ambitious (if, necessarily, much-abridged) timeline of British history, originally published in 1826. Toone, who seems to have been greatly interested in the organization and summarization of information, also published The magistrate's manual, or, A summary of the duties and powers of a justice of the peace and A glossary and etymological dictionary, of obsolete and uncommon words, antiquated phrases, and proverbs illustrative of early English literature.Binding: Mid- to late-19th-century binding, with binder’s ticket of the True American Bindery of Trenton, NJ.
Half morocco with marbled paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped titles and blind-stamped decorative devices; edges and sides moderately rubbed with a bit of paper skinned from cover of vol. II. Most pages with some degree of foxing. Handsome on shelf, solid in hand.
Traslado de una compendiosa relacion, que fue escrita de Milan à un señor desta Corte, de las gloriosas vitorias que ha tenido el excelentissimo señor Marques de Leganes en el dicho estado, contra las armas de Francia, y coligados. Madrid: Por la viuda de Juan Gonçalez, 1638. Folio (28.2 cm, 11.1"). 3 ff.
$750.00
Account of battles against the French, with the Spanish forces led by Don Diego Messia, Marquis of Leganes and governor of Milan.
Click the image for an enlargement.
Almirante, Bibliografía militar de España, 694; Palau 339184. Removed from a nonce volume; creased, with pages slightly age-toned.
An Irish-AMERICAN'S Service & Claims
United States. Congress. House. Committee of Claims. Report of the Committee of Claims to whom was referred, on the twenty-second ultimo, the petition of Oliver Pollock, of the state of Pennsylvania. January 23, 1807. Read, and referred to a committee of the whole House, on Monday next. City of Washington: A. & G. Way, printers,
1807. 8vo. 30 pp.
$25.00
Oliver Pollock, an Irish-born American merchant, claims remuneration for losses sustained in his capacity as commercial agent for the United States at Orleans during the American Revolution.
Shaw & Shoemaker 14058. Removed from a nonce volume. Librarian's lightly pencilled notation on title-page. Stray brown spots. Very good. (18017)

A Widow's Plea
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims. [drop-title] Report of the Committee on Pensions and Revolutionary Claims, on the petition of Elizabeth Morgan, widow of Zaquille Morgan, in behalf of herself and children. January 26, 1816. Read, and ordered to be printed.
[Washington: William A. Davis, 1816]. 8vo. 2 pp.
$10.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Concerning the petitioner's claim for compensation for the death of her husband from exhaustion while serving as a captain in the Army during the defense of Washington in 1814. At head of title: “[31]”. Government document: House document (United States. Congress. House); 14th Congress, 1st session, no. 31.
Shaw & Shoemaker 39609. Removed from a nonce volume; inner edge a little irregular; remnants of paper adhered in inner margin. First page rubber-stamped by the War Department Library. (13169)
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.
$350.00
A reading copy of the bill, with each line numbered. At head of title: “VI. In Senate of the United States. December 22d, 1812. Agreeably to notice. 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)

Deceased
Soldiers' Pay
& Survivors'
“Bounties” — U.S.
Civil War
United States. Treasury
Department. [drop-title, first word in brackets] [Circular.] Instructions
in preparing claims for soldier's pay. [Washington, D.C., 1862]. 4 pp.
$225.00
In this Civil War leaflet Ezra B. French, Second Auditor of the Treasury Department, explains 1) order of payment to survivors of deceased soldiers, and 2) methods for determining who is paid bounty money. The leaflet includes on its last page an application form. Folded, never bound; with additional fold lines as to fit in an envelope or pocket. Dust-soiling; stray ink marks on p. 4. Edges tattered and dog-eared. In all a fair/good copy.

Extended Government Report
Andersonville — Four Plates — Many Documents
United States Sanitary Commission. Narrative of privations and sufferings of United States officers and soldiers while prisoners of war in the hands of the rebel authorities. Being the report of a commission of inquiry, appointed by the United States Sanitary Commission. Philadelphia: King & Baird, 1864. 8vo. 283, [3 (blank)] pp.; 4 plts.
$250.00
With four engraved plates of emaciated soldiers, a map of the Andersonville prison, and numerous letters and documents from soldiers held captive.
Good in printed paper wrappers, lacking back cover, light waterstaining to front cover and first and last few leaves. (927)
Extracts for
“Gratuitous” Distribution
United States Sanitary Commission. Narrative of privations and sufferings of United States officers and soldiers while prisoners of war in the hands of the rebel authorities. Being the report of a commission of inquiry, appointed by the United States Sanitary Commission. With an appendix, containing the testimony. Boston: Office of “Littell's Living Age”, 1864. 8vo. 86, [2 (1 blank)] pp.; 4 plts.
$250.00
Click the lefthand images for enlargement.
Extracts from the above, with the plates and map. Ads on back wrapper. Plates bound in front.
Sabin 51791; NSTC 2USA3337. Removed from a nonce volume. Original printed wrappers, chipped. Two instances of blue crayon marking, in top right corners of front wrapper and top right corner of title-page. Now in a mylar folder. (8963)
U.S. House of Representatives. Committee on Naval Affairs.Contract for coal...May 24, 1860. Mr. Morse, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the following report. The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred so much of the annual report of the Secretary of the Navy as relates to a "conditional contract" made by him for the purpose of securing a supply of coal for the use of the navy, and other privileges in the Republic of New Granada, report as follows...." [Washington, D.C., 1860]. 2 parts in 1 vol. 79 pp., 3 large fold. maps; 15 pp.
$145.00
Steam-powered naval vessels of the 19th-century needed coal and lots of it. The U.S. Secretary of the Navy sought to obtain a reliable and abundant supply for the Pacific and Caribbean fleets through a contract with the Chiriqui Improvement Company of Nueva Granada; coal from the Chiriqui region of what is now Panama was to be extracted and transported for the navy's use to two ports, one on the Caribbean coast and one on the Pacific. Present here are the majority and minority reports of the House Committee on Naval Affairs. They are detailed and informative and include three highly important maps of the Chiriqui region. Very Good condition, in recent wrappers.
Villagutierre Sotomayor, Juan de. Historia de la conquista de la provincia de el Itza, reduccion, y progressos de la de el Lacandon, y otras naciones de indios barbaros, de la mediacion de el reyno de Guatimala, a las provincias de Yucatan, en la America septentrional. Madrid: Lucas Antonio de Bedmar y Narvaez, 1701. Folio (28.5 cm; 11.5"). Engr. “frontispiece,” [32] ff., 660 pp., [17] ff.
$28,750.00
Click any image above for an enlargement.
Although the author never set foot in the New World, his high position in the Consejo de Indias and other royal councils gave him access to much important documentation for the writing of this prized history of the conquest of the Izta Maya and the attempted conquest of the Lacandón Indians during the last decades of the 17th century; the conquest of Petén and the misadventures of Roque de Soberanis y Senteno and Martín de Urzúa, two governors of the Yucatán make for very exciting reading.
This is the first published book dedicated solely to the history of the Yucatán and the Maya, here offered in its first edition, first issue (with the incorrect catchword “gla” at the foot of the recto of the 22nd preliminary leaf).

Bedmar y Narvaez printed the title-page in black and red and the text is in double-column format. This copy bears both the engraved “frontispiece” and the black and red title-page, but, as usual, not the very rare colophon.
Although touted as “Primera parte” on the title-page, there were no further parts; this Historia is complete, “all published.”
Palau 366681; Medina, Biblioteca hispano-americana, 2051; Sabin 99643; Leclerc 1546; Salvá 3422; Heredia 3407; Alden & Landis, European Americana, 701/262. On Villagutierre, see: Archivo biográfico de España, Portugal, e Iberoamérica, fiche 1019, frames 213–16. 19th-century Spanish sheep (“pasta española”), covers abraded and with pinhole-type worming to spine; loss of lower inch of spine leather to insects. Browning to text due to impurities in water during paper manufacture. Small insect damage to margins of first four leaves, not touching any text; similar small damage in inner margins of last four leaves. Over all, a decent copy of a scarce work.
(War of the Spanish Succession). The humble address of both houses of Parliament, with her Majesties answer to the Commons address. Edinburgh: Heirs & Successors of Andrew Anderson, 1706. Folio (31 cm, 12.1"). [4 (1 blank)] pp.
$375.00
Following English successes at the battles of Turin and Ramillies, members of the House of Commons and House of Lords send their congratulations to Queen Anne, and encourage her efforts to unify England and Scotland. The Scottish Parliament had begun debate on the Treaty of Union just a few months prior to the December 1706 issue of this item, and would agree to it one month afterwards.
ESTC T36741. Now in a Mylar folder; edges uncut. Some creasing, with ink markings from press.


Puritan Ex-Pat
Repatriated & Re-“Involved”
Ward, Nathaniel. A word to Mr. Peters, and two words
for the Parliament and kingdom. Or, An answer to a scandalous pamphlet, entituled, A word for the Armie, and two words to the kingdom: subscribed by Hugh Peters. Wherein the authority of Parliament is infringed, the fundamentall laws of the land subverted; the famous city of London blemished; and all the godly ministers of the city scandalized. In vindication of all which, this small treatise is published, by a friend to the Parliament, city, and ministery of it. London: Pr. by Fr: Neile for Tho: Underhill, 1647. Small 4to. [1] f., 38 pp.
$875.00
Ward (1578–1652), a clergyman and compiler of a law code for Massachusetts, was a Puritan who lived in Massachusetts from 1633 to 1646. The present work was written in “Answer to a scandalous pamphlet, entituled, A word for the Armie, and two words to the
kingdom: subscribed by Hugh Peters;” which in turn was a reply to Ward's A Religious Retreat Sounded to a Religious Army in which Ward called for state control of the army — a bold suggestion during the Civil War!
Click the image for an enlargement.
Wing (rev. ed.) W792; Thomason E.413[7]; Sabin 101330; ESTC R21688. Removed from a nonce volume. Old two-digit number in upper outer corner of title-page. Sewing starting to separate. In modern wrappers. (20998)
Ward, Robert Plumer. An essay on contraband: Being a continuation of the treatise of the relative rights and duties of belligerent and neutral nations, in maritime affairs. London: J. Wright & J. Butterworth (pr. by G. Woodfall), 1801. 8vo (19.5 cm, 7.75"). vii, [1 (blank)], 173–255, [1 (blank)] pp. (lacking i/ii, i.e., the half-title).
$150.00
Paginated continuously with Ward’s Treatise of the Relative Rights and Duties, and apparently also issued as the second part of that document, this work discusses international law regarding trade in wartime; the 1793 stoppage by the English of American corn exportation to France is included and analyzed as an example.
Goldsmiths'-Kress 18239; NSTC W529. Recent paper wrappers. Some instances of light foxing and offsetting.

A Golden Life — A Little Golden Book??
Wellesley, Arthur, Duke of Wellington. The Wellington souvenir: A golden record! London: Simpkin & Marshall and Howlett & Son, 1852. 12mo (15.5 cm, 6.1"). 64 pp.; 4 plts. (incl. in pagination).
[SOLD]
Click the interior image above or the one below, for an enlargement.
Scarce sole edition of this commemorative biography
printed and with plates impressed entirely in gold. The work was issued on the occasion of Wellington's death, and we must guess that the publishers were exceedingly proud of it. The exclamation point of the title above is, yes, right there on the title-page!
Rare. OCLC and NUC Pre-1956 list no U.S. institutional holdings.
NSTC 2W12242. Publisher's maroon pebbled cloth, covers and spine gilt-stamped, rebacked preserving original spine; corners rubbed, spine darkened, covers institutionally pressure-stamped. All edges gilt. Title-page and first text page faintly rubber-stamped by a now-defunct institution. One plate with tear from upper margin extending into image and two other leaves each with a tear not reaching text; some instances of damage where one leaf sometime adhered to another; general soiling. Faults obvious and to be noted, but — amazing. (23862)
Whitcomb, John. A.D.S. Worcester, 12 December 1774. Folio (12.5" x 8"). 2 pp.
$450.00

At the beginning of the Revolutionary hostilities Whitcomb was “old,” i.e., in his 50s and he was not called to service until the men of his militia regiment refused to budge without him. He is variously
described as having served as a colonel or a general before retiring late in 1776.
Click either image for enlargement.
In the document at hand, Whitcomb in his capacity of justice of the peace attests on the verso of the leaf to the authenticity of the document on the recto. His attestation is approximately 1.5" high by 8" wide, with a clear
signature.
The document on the recto is a printed legal form by which Artemus How of Boton, Worcester County, Massachusetts Bay Province, sells 50 acres of land to Bezeleel Hale. Interestingly, both Artemus and his wife Abigail signed the
instrument of sale.
On Whitcomb, see: Appleton’s Cyclopaedia. Good/Good+ condition: short fold tears. Three small areas of discoloration from old tape used to tip item into an album. With old pencilled dealer’s code (Sessler’s).
A
Copy in
Very Clean, Nice Shape
Wilkes, George. McClellan: From Ball's Bluff to Antietam. By George Wilkes, editor of Wilkes' Spirit of the Times. New York: Sinclair Tousey (Wynkoop, Hallenbeck & Thomas, printers), 1863. 8vo. 40 pp.
$90.00
Severe criticism of McClellan as a leader, especially for his refusal to engage with the forces of the Confederacy or to take Richmond despite the apparent ability to do so.
With an advertisement on the back for "Wilkes's Spirit of the Times. The American Gentleman's Newspaper. A Chronicle of the Turf, Field Sports, the Army and the Stage."
Miles 485. Original wrappers. Removed from a nonce volume.
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