PHILADELPHIA
NOT just Ben . . .
MULTICULTURAL ALWAYS!
A-C Bibles D-F G-L M N-Q R-T U-Z
Dinmore, Richard. Select and fugitive poetry. A compilation. With notes biographical and historical. Washington City: Pr. at the Franklin Press [by James Lyon & Richard Dinmore], 1802. 12mo (16.3 cm, 6.4"). 288 pp.
$450.00
Click any image where the hand appears on
mouse-over, for an enlargement.
First edition of what was likely the first volume of verse printed
in Washington (according to Wegelin), and one of the first anthologies compiled
by an American. Richard Dinmore, editor of the National Magazine, selected
the widely ranging pieces present here, including a sprinkling of poems by the
Della Cruscan Robert Merry and some poems by Americans (and others that evoke
American feelings and situations).
Among the American authors is Tom Paine writing on
Gen. Charles Lee, whom a 19th-century reader has identified in pencil as “A
traitor to [the] American cause.”
A
few of the U.S. pieces are anonymous, e.g. “The People’s Friend,”
which was “sung at Philadelphia, 4 July, 1801.”
Three pages bear subscribers’ names.
Wegelin 932; Shaw & Shoemaker 2148. Period-style quarter
tan cloth over light blue paper–covered sides, spine with printed paper
label. Title-page torn, with outer corner chipped, resulting in loss of four
letters from end of title; now mounted. One contents leaf with edge tear extending
into text; last leaf with short edge tears. Some light to moderate foxing,
with pages age-toned; final page with shadow of pencilled “Finis”
and p. 80 with pencilled comment as above.
Eaton,
John Henry. To Chandler Price, chairman, Jacob Holgate and Henry Horn,
secretaries of the Committee of Superintendence and Vigilance, for the city and
county of Philadelphia. In reply to Jonathan Roberts, Esq. Philadelphia, 1826.
8vo (20.6 cm, 8.1"). 29, [3 (blank)] pp.
[SOLD]
Sole edition of this commentary regarding the election of Andrew
Jackson, written by a U.S. senator who went on to become Secretary of War. Responding
to a pamphlet published by an advocate of presidents Monroe and Adams, Eaton
here defends Jackson, his friend and the mentor of his first wife, with regards
to Jackson’s actions as governor of Florida and his imposition of martial
law in New Orleans. The quoted element of our caption appears on the pamphlet’s
p. [3].
Shoemaker 24396. On Eaton, see: Dictionary of American Biography,
V, 609–10. Removed from a nonce volume, now in a Mylar folder. Title-page
with early inked inscription in upper margin, partially shaved—apparently,
“W. Rawle” (the Philadelphia lawyer) from someone we can’t
make out. Slight offsetting, cockling.

An
Early U.S. BCP AND A
“Book Studies” Teaching Tool
Episcopal Church. The book of common prayer, and administration of the sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies of the church, according to the use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America: Together with the Psalter, or Psalms of David. Philadelphia: By permission of the General
Convention, printed by W. Young and J. Ormrod, 1795–[1801]. 18mo. [167] ff., 171, [5] pp.
$950.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
A bibliographical oddity in the form of an early printing of the U.S. Book of Common Prayer: The title-page of the Book of Common Prayer has the imprint of W. Young and J. Ormrod and the date of 1795, but the sectional title for the Whole Book of Psalms has the imprint “Whitehall: Printed by William Young, bookseller & stationer, S. 2d-Street, Philadelphia, 1801.” That title-page is leaf Ee6, is not a cancel, and so is integral to the last signature of the Book of Common Prayer.
An examination of the paper used suggests that some gatherings of the BCP are remaindered from the 1795 printing and that the bulk of the “edition” is a close 1805 reprinting on wove paper.
Evans 29363; Griffiths, Book of Common Prayer, 1795/12. Not in Shaw & Shoemaker. 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, green title-label. Title-page browned around the edges. Scattered foxing and a few stray stains. (20606)

German-American
Hymnal
in Typical
FRAKTUR Style
Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and the Adjacent States. Erbauliche Lieder-Sammlung zum Gottesdienstlichen Gebrauch in den vereinigten Evangelisch-Lutherischen Gemeinen in Pennsylvanien und den benachbarten Staaten. Philadelphia: G. & D. Billmeyer, 1814. 12mo (17.2 cm, 7"). [12] ff., 626 pp., [5] ff. [bound with] Helmuth, Justus Henry Christian. Kurze Andachten einer Gottsuchenden Seele, auf alle Tage der Woche und andere Umstände eingerichtet. Philadelphia: G. & D. Billmeyer, 1814. 12mo (17.2 cm, 7"). 26 pp.
$200.00

German Lutheran hymnal for use in Pennsylvania and surrounding states. This Billmeyer edition is printed in two columns in fraktur type; it contains the texts of the hymns only, no music. This work was first published in 1786, with a number of subsequent editions.
Helmuth's Kurze Andachten, a short collection of morning, evening, and other occasional prayers, was issued with this edition of the hymnal and is usually, as here, bound in at the end.
Provenance:
Late-20th-century book label of Michael Zinman on front pastedown.
Hymnal: Shaw & Shoemaker 31426; Arndt, The First Century of German Language Printing in the United States of America, 2032. Kurze Andachten: Shaw & Shoemaker 31686; Arndt, The First Century of German Language Printing in the United States of America, 2034. Contemporary sheep over wooden boards with working brass clasps; spine with raised bands. Scattered abrasions with leather chipped away through to the board on front cover's outer edge. Some pages dog-eared, with spots of browning throughout as usual in German imprints of this period.

Billmeyer-Printed
German Lutheran Hymnal
Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and the Adjacent States. Erbauliche Lieder-Sammlung zum Gottesdienstlichen Gebrauch in den vereinigten Evangelisch-Lutherischen Gemeinen in Pennsylvanien und den benachbarten Staaten. Philadelphia: G. & D. Billmeyer, 1818. 12mo (14.7 cm, 5.75"). Frontis., [22], 463, [9 (index)] pp. [with] Helmuth, Justus Henry Christian. Kurze Andachten einer Gottsuchenden Seele, auf alle Tage der Woche und andere Umstände eingerichtet. Philadelphia: G. & D. Billmeyer, 1818. 12mo. 26 pp.
$200.00
Seventh edition of this German Lutheran hymnal for use in Pennsylvania and surrounding states. This Billmeyer edition, preceded by a frontispiece portrait of Martin Luther, is printed in two columns in fraktur type; it contains the texts of the hymns only, no music. The work was first published in 1786, with a number of subsequent editions. Helmuth's Kurze Andachten, a short collection of morning, evening, and other occasional prayers, was issued with this edition of the hymnal and is usually, as here, bound in at the end.
Hymnal: Shaw & Shoemaker 43969 ( = 43951); Arndt, The First Century of German Language Printing in the United States of America, 2286. Kurze Andachten: Shaw & Shoemaker 44299; Arndt 2288. Contemporary black roan in imitation of straight-grain morocco, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; binding with minor scuffing, spine with faintly visible scuff from now-absent shelving label. Front pastedown institutionally rubber-stamped; back pastedown with Pennsylvania bookseller's small ticket. Expectable spots of browning throughout as usual in German imprints of this period. A few page corners dog-eared. (24426)
First Baptist Church (Philadelphia, PA). An address from the Baptist Church, in Philadelphia, to their sister churches of the same denomination, throughout the confederated states of North America. Drawn up by a committee of the Church, appointed for said purpose. Philadelphia : Pr. by Robert Aitken, 1781. 8vo (19 cm, 7.4"). 16 pp.
$800.00
Controversy that arose in the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia concerning the universalist principles of its pastor Elhanan Winchester (1751–1797).
Click either image for an enlargement.
Provenance: Signature of Jos. Walter on wrapper.
A scarce publication.
Evans 17310; Hildeburn 4072. 19th-century half brown sheep over marbled paper with gilt-lettered spine, original plain blue wrapper bound in; binding rubbed with front joint just starting. Ex-library copy with inked call number on front cover, bookplate on front pastedown, pencilled call number on verso of second front flyleaf, pressure-stamps, and rubber-stamps (including front wrapper and title-page, “Locked Section”). Title- and following
leaf chipped in lower outer corner, repaired with paper; light foxing and spots of soiling, only. Inked ownership inscription as above, on front wrapper.
On “Republican Education"
French
& . . . Philadelphian?
France.
Convention nationale. Comitè d'instruction publique. National
convention. Report on the organization of national schools: To complete a republican
education. Made in the name of the Committee of public instruction. The 24th
germinal, second year of the republic.... Philadelphia: Pr. & sold [by Benjamin
Franklin Bache], 1794. 8vo (21.5 cm, 8.5"). 12 pp.
$350.00

Sole American edition of Gabriel Bouquier's report on reforming public education in France. The chief aims are to release secondary and higher education from the "hide-bound" ways that the Revolutionary government perceived in the ancient regime and to establish a system for training youths who will be immediately useful to France in commerce, exploration, mining, the military, and other nonacademic pursuits. One of the reforms that it is thought will help ensure good instruction is the selection of teachers in public forums by committees of 40 citizens, each drawn from a cross-section of citizens. Committee votes are to be open to the public and a clear majority is to be necessary for appointment.
Evans 27001. Removed from a nonce volume, now in modern wrappers. Six-digit number stamped on title-page. Dusty.

Last
18th-Century American Edition of His WORKS
Franklin, Benjamin. Works of the late Dr. Benjamin Franklin: Consisting of his life, written by himself, together with essays, humourous, moral and literary; chiefly in the manner of the Spectator. Huntingdon, PA: Pr. for the proprietor by John R. Parrington, 1800. 12mo. 2 vols. in 1. Frontis., 156, 119, [1] pp.
$400.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Early edition of this popular collection of assorted pieces by Franklin, originally published in 1790. Vol. I begins with Franklin's autobiography, with a continuation written by Dr. Stuber, and ends with “Extracts from the last will and testament of Dr. Franklin” on pp. 146–56. Vol. II contains “The Essays.” The engraved frontispiece opposite the title-page of vol. I, a portrait of Franklin in a fur cap, was done by J. Bannerman.
Evans 37442; Sabin 25602; ESTC W17376. Contemporary speckled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; joints fully open and holding by cords, leather peeled up from board edges, gilt dimmed on spine label. Front fly-leaves with faint pencilled and inked inscriptions; back fly-leaves with inked ownership inscriptions, one dated 1801. Pages age-toned, last few waterstained; one leaf torn with loss of several words from one line. A “survivor” copy, priced accordingly. (22636)
Franklin
Fire Insurance Company of Philadelphia. Act of incorporation
and by-laws of the Franklin Fire Insurance Company of Philadelphia. [Philadelphia:
No publisher or printer, 1829]. 12mo (20.7 cm, 8.1"). 12 pp.
$325.00
By the terms of this document, shareholders had to be U.S. citizens, directors were barred from borrowing funds from the corporation, and no more than $10,000 of annual income could come from any real estate holdings owned by the company.
Click the image for an enlargement.
Sabin 61675; not in Shoemaker. Original plain blue-green wrappers, chipping over spine, front wrapper with inked title and numeral. Sewing going, with signatures loose in wrappers. Title-page with three-digit stamped number and with pencilled notation in upper margin.
A very scarce publication.
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