Search Results: Titles starting with P from Mac Donnell Rare Books

Howe, Julia Ward. PASSION FLOWERS. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1854. First edition, in unrecorded color. Original blue cloth, spine extra gilt. Her first book, published in an edition of 1,000 copies, that caused a lot of chatter upon publication and reached a third edition the same year. Nathaniel Hawthorne said she "ought to have been soundly whipped" for publishing it. Howe's frank and personal airing of her marital grievances is what upset proper Bostonians, especially her poem "Mind Versus Mill-Stream" which was a razor-sharp metaphor for a typical Victorian man's unrealistic expectation of finding… Read More

[WHITTIER, JOHN GREENLEAF] PHOTOGRAPH MOUNTED UNDER GLASS [n.p., n.d., ca. 1880-1895] 2 x 2 inches. Original albumen portrait of Whittier in old age, mounted under a thin piece of octagonal beveled glass with original faux morocco backing. It was a common practice in the late nineteenth century to mount photos with this kind of backing on glass paperweights, but this example is smaller and much too light for that purpose. It may have been intended to be framed and attached to a badge or ribbon for some kind of event or as a memento mori for use in a memorial service (Whittier died in 1892). A charming relic and the only one of its… Read More

Holmes, Oliver Wendell. POEM FOR THE DEDICATION OF THE FOUNTAIN AT STRATFORD-ON-AVON.[Cambridge: The Riverside Press] 1887. First edition, printing A. Single sheet folded to 4pp., measuring 8 x 10 inches. There were two subsequent printings, one an 8 x 5 inch leaflet and the other an oblong broadside. Autographed in ink by Holmes at the conclusion: "Oliver Wendell Holmes/ Boston, Jan. 12th, 1888." Some offsetting from being mounted in a scrapbook, but no abrasions and the original red silk tie is wholly intact. A very rare Holmes first edition. George W. Childs presented the poem at the dedication and paid for the printing of the… Read More

Whittier, John Greenleaf. POEMS. Philadelphia: Joseph Healy, 1838. First edition, binding C (no sequence). Original black skiver embossed with a flowery Grolieresque design, gilt, all edges gilt. Only a hint of rubbing and mild foxing; a fine copy. Cf. Wolfe, FROM GOTHIC WINDOWS TO PEACOCKS for descriptions of the two embossed bindings used on this book. This collection of fifty poems is the author's first authorized collection of his poetry, much revised from newspaper and various unauthorized printings. BAL 21710.

Holmes, Oliver Wendell. POEMS. Boston: Otis, Broaders, 1836. First edition, with the single imprint (no priority). Original black zig-zag embossed C cloth, label. Spine ends slightly frayed and tiny chip to one corner of label, but an unusually bright crisp copy with hardly a trace of the foxing so often associated with this book. Holmes' first book of poetry, printed in an edition of just 1,000 copies, and containing some of Holmes' best work: My Aunt, The Last Leaf, Old Ironsides, etc. BAL 8729.

James, Henry. PORTRAITS OF PLACES. Boston: James R. Osgood, 1884. First American edition, first printing. Original mustard cloth, gilt. Mild chafing at spine ends, faint soiling to cloth, but a very good clean copy. The English edition was published six weeks earlier. The edition was 1,500 copies. BAL 10563. Edel & Laurence A21.b.

[TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] POSTCARD OF ST. LOUIS HARBOR BOAT `MARK TWAIN.' [St. Louis, 1907] Black and white postcard of the St. Louis harbor boat `Mark Twain' at the edge of the shore with its gang-plank down, unloading and loading cargo. This is the rarer of the two recorded postcards known that picture this famous steamboat, the last steamboat piloted by Mark Twain. In 1902, after his visit to Hannibal, Twain stopped in St. Louis and rechristened the harbor boat `City of St. Louis' as the `Mark Twain.' He took the wheel for a short excursion around the harbor, but when he saw some ripples ahead and could not be sure… Read More

[TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] REAL PHOTO POSTCARD OF MARK TWAIN AT HIS BOYHOOD HOME. Hannibal: Frazer Studios [ca. 1920] Oblong real photo card showing the Tomlinson image of Twain posing in front of the boyhood home. Frazer Studios was established in 1919 when Tomlinson's daughter Jean married Hal Frazer. Unused.

[TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] POSTCARD. New York: Rotograph Co. [1906] Color photo-engraving of Twain's Hartford home. A beautifully toned image. Unused. We have seen examples of this card postmarked as early as 1906.

[TWAIN, MARK] [Clemens, S. L.] POSTCARD OF MARK TWAIN IN BERMUDA. Hamilton, Bermuda: William Weiss & Co., Photographers and Kodak Dealers [ca. 1908-10] The famous photograph of Twain in a donkey cart at left with caption "Mark Twain (America's greatest humorist) in Bermuda." In a split image on the right he is standing next to a sailboat. Divided back; postmarked in 1920. This rare postcard was issued between 1908 and 1910 and we have seen a used example postmarked as late as 1923.

Twain, Mark [Clemens, S. L.] THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER. New York: Charles L. Webster, 1885. First edition, second state of text, later issue with cancel title-page with Webster imprint. Original green cloth, gilt, with Webster imprint at foot. Some fraying of spine ends and corners, light general rubbing; a very good copy. This is the first of the two Webster re-issues using unsold sheets of the first edition of this title (there was a second in 1887). In 1884, after Osgood went bankrupt, Webster took over the unsold sheets of all of Twain's Osgood printings and re-issued this title with cancel title-pages. From Osgood,… Read More

Byron, Lord. THE PRISONER OF CHILLON AND OTHER POEMS. London: John Murray, 1816. First edition, first issue with recto of E8 blank, half-title present, and Murray's November, 1816 catalogue at rear. Original drab grey wrappers. Some chips to spine paper, else a nice copy in the original fragile binding, with owner's 1817 gift inscription on rear end paper. Although this poem is chock-full of quotable lines, the phrase "stone walls do not a prison make" is a line by Richard Lovelace that is often misattributed to Byron's PRISONER OF CHILLON. Wise, p. 113. Housed in quarter leather slipcase. Read More