Philadelphia: G.G. Evans, 1860. First Edition. Octavo. 503 pages, (1)pp index to Washington's farewell address and 22pp. ads. The Title page further notes: Liberty and Union, Now and Forever, One and Inseparable. One County, One Constitution, One Destiny. A fascinating book which covers areas not usually seen in 19th Century American History. Much on Daniel Webster is well-known but here are selections not commonly seen. His argument for the purchase of James Madison's papers, for instance, where he notes because of the absolute secrecy of the Constitutional Convention are Madison's notes as well as the events that led up to that convention. The title page is printed one year before the American Civil War and yet it states the U.S. Liberty and Union is now and forever one and inseparable. The paradox is how this dream of a county that was unified would divide into North and South less than a year after this work was published. Of course, it does not address the mystery of how James Madison who was perhaps the major genius behind the Constitution could have betrayed it particularly in Washington's second term where already the sectionalism that Frederick Jackson Turner has written about was pronounced but not recognized as the situation was often viewed through rose-colored glasses. The section Constitution and the Union which was given before the Senate in March of 1850 shows how slavery was already an issue which had allowed some Southern voices to use the word secession. The tension between the ideals of an indissoluble union and the voices from the South which wanted slavery not only to exist but to expand but were threatening that union are already etched out here and were only resolved by the Civil War. Bound in publisher's brown embossed cloth, pale yellow endpapers, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, light fading or soiling to spine, spine ends and corners lightly worn, some off-setting to titlepage from frontispiece. A very nice copy.
New York: Blelock, 1865. First Edition. Octavo. Engraved frontispiece, 524 pages. One of the best first hand accounts by a journalist for the New York Herald Tribute who traveled with General Sherman and was one who accused him of insanity. His reports were of such use to the initial defense of the Confederacy that Sherman wanted him to be charged as a spy. He also gave many firsthand accounts of battles along the Mississippi River and the coasts. The images in his book include the Arkansas ramming through the fleet at Vicksburg (where he reports the Confederates had used African American sharpshooters), the Steamer Van Ruhl ramming the batteries and others not in other volume on these issues. His account of what happened as blacks gained freedom and were able to lease cotton fields for one year, show amazing profits with 10 of the top black growers each netting 2-3,000 each. Few copies survived in good condition. This copy has been expertly rebound for the serious reader in 1/4 leather over brown cloth, raised bands, red leather spine labels lettered and ruled in blue.
One of the longest biographical sketches issued when Chief Justice John Marshall passed away. The article measures approximately 5 3/4"x 26" with over 300 lines of text. Other than a closed tear to one fold, the item is easily readable though very small print type. Our presumption is this would be an item framed for the lawyer or student of legal American history. Some toning.
Philadelphia: Ginn and Company, 1902. Large Octavo. 518pp., This work is devoted to an account of each colony to administer the English theories of election and representation under widely different conditions from those which held goods in England of colonial days. It traces the influence of cheap land, of religious zeal, or of frontier ideals of equality upon the English aristocratic political system. Bound in 1/4 dark brown morocco over olive green cloth, raised bands, lettering within two compartments gilt, marbled endpapers, internally clean and bright without foxing, names or bookplates.
Philadelphia: Eldredge and Brother, 1868. Small Octavo. 176 pages. The Physician Dr. Joseph C. Martindale wrote popular histories of the U.S. this, his first, covering the earliest period to just after the Civil War. What shocks the modern student of history are the myriad details in the thousands with 80 suggested questions for the teacher to ask the student. Even those who did well in the [GRE] graduate record exam on their way to graduate study would find this difficult not for the genius it requires but for the plethora of detail. In short, the student would have a mass of facts at his disposal without any of the disciplines of historiography. This copy belonged to William P. Osler (1852-1917) , 840 Broadway, Camden, New Jersey. He was the longest serving engineer of the City's Water Department which he took over in February 1903 when his predecessor F. Walter Toms who suddenly disappeared. A fascinating way in which children would be immersed in facts without seeing broader relationships. Bound ion 1/4 black morocco over blue paper covered boards lettered in black with central vignette, rear board list publisher's other books, some soiling or rubbing to boards, spine ends chipped, a very good copy.
Johnson City, Tennessee; (1990): Ovemountain Press. Thick Octavo. 803 pages, index, appendices, extensive details of family names. The author was a family member and a professor at Furman University. Her eighteen years of research makes this the most extensive of the Wallen names including their alternate spellings such as "Walden", "Wallin", and "Walling". In 1761 Elisha Wallen led the first major recorded long hunt into what is now Tennessee. Wallen set up a station camp in Lee County, Virginia, and trekked into the Clinch and Powell valleys in what is now Hawkins County, Tennessee. That same year, Colonel Adam Stephen led a regiment of Virginia soldiers and militia to Long Island of the Holston, in what is now Sullivan County, Tennessee. The expedition, which was launched in retaliation for the Cherokee sacking of Fort Loudoun in 1760, forced the Cherokee to sign a peace treaty. A major reference of a book that has become very scarce. A very nice copy.
Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1830. First American Edition. Octavo. xviii,[2],[17]-455pp. plus errata. First published in France in 1829. In this work, "Barbe-Marbois represented France in the preliminary negotiations with the United States on the Louisiana purchase and his book is one of the main sources on that subject. It shows that in the claim by the United States in the negotiations with Great Britain, that the northern boundary of Louisiana included the area now comprised in Oregon, Washington and Idaho was without foundation" this is the only account of the Louisiana diplomacy by a major participant (Napoleon left no records). Napoleon trusted him on the negotiations even more than Tallyrand. Bound in full contemporary calf, flat spine ruled in gilt, black morocco spine label gilt, scattered foxing, contemporary owner's names, some notes to rear endsheets on cost of purchases. joints splitting and a bit fragile but holding well. A good copy. [Howes B115, aa; Ebetstadt 127:30].
Providence, R.I.: The Providence Gazette, 1811. 4 pages with a long 4 column article "Mr. Pickering's Address to the People of the United States". No. I. He introduces the topic. II. ' He addresses the extreme pro-French item of the Jeffersonian party with 6 major points all well defined. a very clean copy of the original newspaper.
London: S. Clark, 1844. First Edition. Ioctavo. 2 preliminary leaves, [iii]-iv, [5]-100, 99, [1] pp. errata. Bound in ¼ brown-black morocco over brown cloth, spine gilt and with gilt library shelf numbers, corners only lightly bumped, finger soiling to boards, lacks the frontispiece map(although another copy was issued without map). A deaccessioned library copy, with their plates to front and rear pastedowns and their stamp on a few leaves. A good only copy but quite scarce in any condition. [Howes F16 "Weightiest exposition of British claims to Oregon and contains the first English translation of La Salle's report and of Tonty's 1693 memoirs"].
Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo and Co, 1855. First Edition. Octavo. xx, [17]-596 pages. Subtitle continues: .....original report on the copper mines of Lake Superior and observations of the geology of the Lake basins and the summit of the Mississippi together with all the official reports and scientific papers of both expeditions. Schoolcraft was not only an explorer but an ethnologist as well. His observations even in this later expanded edition are significant. Bound in a decorative brown cloth lettered and decorated in black spine gilt and black, wear through to corners some wear to spine ends, upper edge with chip, corners bumped, hinges cracked but holding well and in custom myler jacket to help stabilize hinges. A good copy. [Howes S-192 issue without maps and plates....A fusion of his 1821 and 1834 narratives with some important additions].
New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1878. First Edition. Thick Large Octavo. Frontispiece, 755 pages. index, (4)pp. publisher's ads, illustrations Of Steel and Wood. After serving in the Black Hawk War, he resigned (1834) from the U.S. army and went to Texas where he enlisted (1835) in the revolutionary army. Johnston became its commander in 1837 and served as Texas secretary of war, 1838-40. In the Mexican War, he commanded a regiment of volunteers and saw action at Monterrey. Reentering the U.S. army in 1849, Johnston served on the Texas frontier, was commander of the Dept. of Texas (1856-58), led the expedition against the Mormons (1857), and commanded the Dept. of Utah (1858-60). When Texas seceded from the Union in Apr., 1861, Johnston, commanding the Dept. of the Pacific, again resigned his commission in the U.S. army and was soon made general in charge of Confederate operations in the West. Union victories, especially at Fort Donelson (Feb., 1862), forced him to withdraw from the line of defense he had established in 1861. He concentrated an army at Corinth, Miss., and on Apr. 6, 1862, attacked Ulysses S. Grant at Shiloh. Johnston was killed at the height of battle. One of the handful of generals on either side that were regarded by their contemporaries and later historians as truly great. Bound in maroon cloth, spine lettering gilt, all edges marbled, some rubbing to edges of upper board, short closed edge to to upper margin, no owner's names or bookplates. A very good copy. [Civil War Books II, p. 68. Howes J-175. Basic Texas Books, 112; Dornbusch II, 2872].
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1953. First Edition. Octavo. xi-[xiv], [1-3]4-513 pages, index. Inscribed: For my beloved Jock, after all these years! ever, Perry, 7 January, 1960. America's most important Puritan historian traces the intellectual, religious and social world of New England which was so different from that of Tidewater Virginia or that of New York. While the "Half Way Covenant" was important, Miller shows the intellectual turmoil which was developing not just around Harvard but throughout the region. An important study. Bound in beige cloth over gray cloth, spine lettering black, a very good copy with toning to spine, in unclipped pictorial dust jacket with a few tiny closed edge tears and small chip to rear panel, and toning.
Boston: T.B. Wait, 1815. Octavo. 522p. Among all the diplomatic correspondance on the depredations by the French and Great Britain as well as the potentates of North Africa in their capturing and enslaving American sailors, there are all the important figures in addition to the 103 captured U.S. vessels with their names and their masters as well as the value of each ship. Here is the long address of President Adams to Congress who are called together under extraordinary pressure regarding the XYZ affair. Bound in recent brown leather, raised bands, double maroon leather spine labels gilt. Some toning to leaves, no foxing. very good.
New York: Putnam, 1870. Octavo. v-xi [7]-639, (1)pp. ad. Second edition, revised, with errata on preface. As James Thomas Flexner wrote: "Students of mid-nineteenth century American painting and sculpture have been blessed with the existence of Henry t. Tuckerman's work. His The Book of the Artists summarizes all the major artists in the United States of his time and he traces their connections as well as their major clients and subjects." The work is a marvelous companions piece to William Dunlap's History of the Rise and Progress of Design in the United States (1834). As Flexner notes, Dunlap reflected a strong opinion whereas Tuckerman is a reflecting mirror, without personal interpretation and he has included many of the artists that Dunlap neglected. A very good copy bound in embossed brown cloth over beveled boards, spine lettering gilt, top edge gilt, brown coated endpapers, some chipping to cloth at foot, light corner wear, off-setting to title page from frontispiece. No names or bookplates.
New York: New York Historical Society, 1931. Limited Edition. Octavo. Limited to only 100 copies. Vol. I: xxxv, [xxxvi-xxxviii], 360pp.; Vol. II: xi, [361-363]364-587pp.; Vol. III, xi,[xii-xiv] [591]-964 pages). Bibliographic references, Extensive Index. This special limited edition has been transcribed, edited and indexed by Miss Dorothy C. Barck. His original diary was kept in 30 small volumes but of the eleven that have been located, they are included here revealing the remarkable man who knew and appreciated Charles Brockden Brown's Arthur Mervyn and had read Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Woman with appreciation (Vol. I, 72, 80). A handsome set bound in red cloth, paper spine labels lettered in black, black coated endpapers, top edges gilt, no names or bookplates.
np/np, 1800. Octavo. Unopened. 223, vii pages. Contains many items from 1799 including an act (p. 209) for the public "to testify their grief for the death of General George Washington". Although he had been President for two full terms and a major force in the Constitution of the United States, it was his role as General in the American Revolution here noted. Also has franking privileges for Martha Washington and William Henry Harrison who was a delegate from the Northwest Territories who also was to be given compensation for his service. Many issues relating to lands, funds, uniform rules on bankruptcy among the states and other key items. Many note approved by President John Adams and Vice-President Thomas Jefferson. Hathitrust begins with the second session but does not include the first five acts of Congress or the Sixth session, part one. p. 213-222 has the entire Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Tunis. In original paper wraps, damp staining through leaves along bottom edge, rear wrapper with tears and chips. A good copy. [Sabin 15505].
Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1855. First Edition. Octavo. Half-title, frontispiece, 306pp., folding map outlined in color, 16pp. publisher's catalog at rear. The author traveled through North America and the United States traveling through those areas not well traveled to present conditions and prospects of the country and to convey some idea of those resources. He visited the great lakes, ventured through various Indian lands and cities and of course the wild west. Bound in pictorial gilt brown cloth , spine lettering gilt, brown coated endpapers, two signatures slightly sprung.
Hartford, Conn: Edwin Valetine Mitchell. First Edition. Octavo. Limited to 1000 copies. Edited with an introduction by Natalie Shipman. The story by John Lord who at sixteen years old volunteered to join the fight of the Civil War. He writes of the years 1860s-1880s. One of the most interesting stories he tells is of the Leadville Boom. Much like the gold rush of the 1850s, he writes how forty-five thousand people, mostly men with only one hundred and fifty women and children made camp. He says not one negro, Chinaman or Japanese but all grades of Americans. He tells how he took one hundred and fifty head of cattle and sold them from sixty to one hundred dollars per head where he would usually get only around twenty dollars per head. He writes about Billy the Kid, the James boys, about the Big Game of Wyoming, and his further travels and adventures. Very well written account. Bound in brown cloth paper labels to front board and spine. A fine bright copy in nearly fine dust jacket with just a hint of wear to head. Very nice.
Philadelphia: J.C. McCurdy, 1888. Octavo. Print shows a campaign poster for the presidential election of 1888, featuring bust portraits of Benjamin Harrison labeled "For President Ben. Harrison", Levi P. Morton labeled "Vice President L.P. 578 pages, pages 558-578 information of salaries of U.S. Army and Navy, Balance of Trade, U.S. Representatives abroad, also list beginning with Washington of Presidents and their cabinet members. Like many political campaign books in the post-Civil War period, there is much on the "supposed" humble dwellings of the candidate often depicting images of log cabins or coon skin hats. A fascinating look at the election process and how much detailed information the public would read. Deaccessioned from the Peavey memorial Library, bound in blue cloth decorated and lettered in black and gilt, floral endpapers, tiny letters BH written in white to spine. A very good copy.
London: Printed for G.G.J. And J. Robinson, 1788. Octavo. [2], ii [4], xxiv, 184, 159, [1], 299, [1] pages. The rare early printing of the U.S. Constitution in Great Britain in its original paper wraps. It is now known that William Godlin wrote not only the History of Henry VIII but also the other parts of the volume which are history. The earlier historian in the annual volumes prior to 1783 were written by Dr. Gilbert Stuart who asked Godwin to finish and continue the series. This was to continue until 1791 which is found in Godwin's journals (Jack W. Marken, "William Godwin's Annual Register" Modern Language Notes, Vol. 68:7, Nov, 1953)). As early as page 95 Arthur St. Clair who was elected President of the Continental Congress on April 17, 1787, addresses the states as "the 13 Independent Sovereign States" (yet on May 25th the Constitutional Convention convened with every state represented except the recalcitrant Rhode Island and instead of noting the independent states are the key opening words We The People). Then, immediately following this report is George Washington's often neglected introduction to the Constitution (p. 99-100) in the Public Papers section. What follows is the very early printing of the U.S. Constitution in Great Britain. Next is Jonathan Penrose's appeal for the abolition of slavery. Throughout the volume which covers the history of the world with the focus on England, France and the United States, we find Thomas Jefferson's "History of the Virginia Mountains" from his Notes on the State of Virginia and references to science from Benjamin Franklin to Herschel's "Account of Three Volcanoes on the Moon" (a work which was among the most important in astronomy in the late 18th Century. This is the rare unbound, unopened and uncut original volume in newer paper wraps with paper label(usually found only in rebound editions with edges trimmed. The last that appeared at auction in this pristine state occurred in were in the opening decades of the 20th Century. Even the set of the Annual Register at the Sotheby's sale in 1980 lacked this volume.
