Search Results: Titles starting with S from Michael Laird Rare Books LLC

Ferrara: Vittorio Baldini, 1585. First Edition. Good. 8vo. Together 3 works in one volume. 1) [9], 2-31, [1] ff., signed A-E8, COMPLETE; 2) [40 ff.], signed A-E8, COMPLETE; 3) 31 ff., signed A-C8, D7 (lacking 9 leaves at end: D8, E1-8). Old Italian limp vellum, spine title lettered in ink (now faded). Binding worn, some staining, second and third works somewhat toned. NO ugly stamps or markings. With stated faults, and priced correctly. SAMMELBAND OF THREE 16TH-CENTURY ITALIAN PLAYS, ONE OF WHICH IS STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO SHAKESPEARE'S "TWELFTH NIGHT," AND YET IT HAS APPARENTLY REMAINED UNKNOWN TO SHAKESPEARE SCHOLARS. Della Valle's "Gelosi Amanti" (1585) is a play about boy/girl twins who become separated; the girl twin disguises herself as a young man; the twins reconcile; after much confusion the love triangle is resolved, resulting in the creation of two happy couples. How is this not like "Twelfth Night," which incidentally was first performed seventeen years later (February 2, 1602), and… Read More

London: Printed for the Company of Stationers, 1781. Very good. Together 7 almanacs in one volume, 8vo (165 x 90 mm), each almanac with 48 pp. (see below). Bound by John Baumgarten in London: contemporary red morocco, richly and elaborately gilt with arabesques and floral and foliate motifs on both covers surrounded by Greek key borders (rebacked with original spine laid down, recent sympathetic spine label, corners refurbished), marbled endpapers, a.e.g. AN ENCHANTING ROCOCO BINDING BY JOHN BAUMGARTEN WHO IS CREDITED WITH INTRODUCING THIS STYLE TO ENGLISH BIBLIOPHILES. A native of Germany, John (Johann Ernst) Baumgarten arrived in London in the 1760s, and thus was one of the first German bookbinders in the London West End. His technical skill and artistry made him internationally famous by 1770. Indeed, Thomas Jefferson acclaimed Baumgarten's work, and (of course) complained about his prices, writing in 1771 that books bound by Baumgarten in "fine Marbled bindings" cost 50% more than in plain… Read More

San Francisco: Louis Roesch Co, 1890. Very Good. Single leaf, red-brown color, some tears and small chips along the edges. Advertisement for a school children's "Play Day" at the Sutro Baths in San Francisco, which included bell ringing, acrobatic feats, dancing, and a special performance from the London Patomime and Comedy Company. The Sutro Baths (1896-1966) was a public saltwater swimming pool in San Francisco, built and owned by entrepreneur and former mayor of San Francisco Adolph Sutro, and heralded at its opening as the world's largest indoor swimming pool. Sutro's idea was to provide an inexpensive recreational swimming facility, mainly for the working class of San Francisco. In true progressive spirit, Sutro also included natural history exhibits at the entrance to the baths as an educational opportunity. However, due to their high maintenance and operating cost, the baths were eventually converted to an ice skating rink, and then sold in 1964 to property developers. A fire in 1966… Read More

London: Printed for J. Hindmarsh, 1691. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Small quarto: [2], 106 pp. Bound in modern half calf antique over marbled boards, old wrappers bound in at end (upper wrapper with early booksellers description and evidence of previous library shelf-marks). Some dust soiling. ¶ DAVID LAING'S COPY. Laing was one of the foremost Scottish antiquarians and bibliographers; he was a learned bookseller and, from 1837 to his death in 1878, keeper of the library of the Writers to the Signet, Edinburgh. He edited a large number of works of Scottish poetry and prose collectors, and formed a spectacular collection of Scottish historical materials which were dispersed posthumously through four huge sales at Sotheby's (1879-1881). The present pamphlet was lot 2988, and features Laing's autograph in pencil inside the front wrapper. ¶ This pamphlet contains the testimony and response of Alexander Monro in answer to charges of "misconduct of office" and also of "Popery." In December 1685… Read More

[Edinburgh], 1703. First Edition. Softcover. Very good. Together two volumes, small quarto. 12 pp., COMPLETE. Stitched in old blue paper wrappers at a recent date. Contemporary (or near-contemporary) author attributions in ink on title-pages, faint blind-stamps on first and final leaves of both pamphlets. BOTH editions of Sinclair's pamphlet recommending Scottish parliamentary reform, such as a triennial act, as well as toleration for dissent. The pamphlet demonstrates a royalist thread in Country discourse that can be linked to Episcopalian interests. ¶ Two editions appeared in 1703, both sina loca (but Edinburgh). The first edition is ESTC T57077. The second edition is distinguished by the title: 'Some thoughts *upon* the present state of affairs' (ESTC T155643). Priority is here established for the first time, afforded by careful examination of both editions side-by-side; it seems probable that ESTC T155643 was printed from ESTC T57077: compare the catchword on p. 2: in ESTC T155643 this… Read More

London: Printed by J[ohn] D[arby] for Richard Chiswell, 1682. First Edition. Softcover. Very good. Small quarto. Collation: A-H4 (final verso blank), COMPLETE. Pagination: 63, [1] pp. Recent sympathetic wrappers. Small 19th-century printed booklabel on upper left corner of title-page ("1047"). Unobtrusive blind-stamp of the Theological Institute of Connecticut (now known as the Hartford Seminary) on first and least leaves. NB: in 1976 a collection of more than 200,000 books from the Hartford Seminary Library were sold to Emory University, including this one --> deaccessioned from Pitts Theology Library. Preserved in a fine protective case. ¶ FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. Ours is apparently the only copy on the market. A rare tract condemning Scottish resistance theory, in which the author, an Episcopalian cleric, complains that the Scots had been "unhappily brought into such a corruption of morals as has not been hitherto known among Christians [...] Are not assassinations taught, as well as practis'd… Read More

Edinburgh: Assigns of Alexander Kincaid, 1787. Very good. Two works in two volumes. Large Octavo (211 x 130 mm). Collation: BIBLE: A-4A8, complete. PSALMS: A-E8, complete. Contemporary Scottish bindings: red morocco, elaborately tooled in gilt to a "Chippendale" motif, smooth spines gilt; marbled endpapers, a.e.g. (in vol. 1 the front joint expertly repaired and tape removed from inner hinges). Preserved in a protective cloth case. INNOVATIVE AND HIGHLY UNUSUAL SCOTTISH CHIPPENDALE ROCOCO BINDINGS, COMBINING CHINOISERIE AND NEOCLASSICAL ELEMENTS, EXHIBITING THE INDEPENDENCE OF SCOTTISH WORK AT THIS TIME. The present example is a striking hybrid of late 18th-century decorative art in Britain, the likes of which we have not encountered hitherto. Here "oriental" birds and peacocks are juxtaposed with patriotic depictions of Britannia (uncharacteristically surmounted by a fleur-de-lis), bold anchors, columns, sunbursts, dripping garlands, flowers, sheaves of wheat, and urns. Presented in the… Read More

[Edinburgh?], 1830. Very good. Small octavo (185 x 120 mm), contemporary cloth-backed stiff wrappers (a little worn), inside front cover with small binder's ticket of "Campbell, Stationer & Bookbinder, 17 Leith Street, Edinburgh," contemporary presentation inscription to free-endpaper "Miss L. J. Wilson from Papa Pa." CONTENTS: engraved title and [37] engraved plates of ethnic types, all with captions in the image; one plate ("Chinese lady of quality") with two ink spots in the blank upper and lower margins, pencilled annotation to verso of same plate ("My Dear Willa, that is a pictur" [sic]) and remains of a small blue circular seal (?); verso of "A Georgian" plate with short tape repair. Contemporary quarter cloth over drab wrappers (a little creased). Minor toning and signs of use, inherent in children's books that survive from this date! Obscure Scottish (?) costume plate book for children, engraved throughout. Whereas no publisher or place of imprint is given on the title-page, the fact that… Read More

Quedlinburg und Leipzig: Druck und Verlag von Gottfr. Basse, 1835. Very good. 8vo (217 x 131 mm). xxii, [4], 362 pp. Gorgeously bound by Johann Jacob Selencka, signed with his ticket: "Gebunden bei J.J. Selencka Braunschweig" affixed inside front cover. Smooth red calf, richly gilt, covers with "gothick" heart-shaped cornerpieces containing volutes, quatrefoils and acanthus leaves; in centers a crowned shield framed by acanthus leaves and emblazoned with the monogram "A" (Augustus Frederick), spine richly gilt, all edges gilt, green endpapers. Unobtrusive expert repairs to front joint and corner tips, very minor shelfwear to binding extremities. Suitable for exhibition. ANGLO-GERMAN BIBLIOPHILY AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. "Difficulties of the German Language" bound by Brunswick Hofbuchbinder Johann Jacob Selencka for Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1773-1843). At Kensington Palace the Duke created one of the finest private libraries in Britain, consisting of over 50,000 volumes (including… Read More

Paris: F.-A. Didot & G. Debure, 1782. Very good. 12mo. Contemporary Parisian crimson morocco by Derome le Jeune, triple gilt fillets around sides, small stars in the corners, flat spine with gilt ruled into six compartments, the second lettered direct, small stars in the others, board edges and turn-ins gilt, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, green silk marker. A diminutive binding of austere elegance by Nicolas-Denis Derome "le Jeune" (signed with his ticket dated 1785, classified by Ract-Madoux as K3), the foremost bookbinder of his era. The design reflects the growing movement in the decorative arts towards the restrained, almost severe Neoclassical models of Greek and Roman antiquity, a reaction against the excesses of the Rococo style. The most successful Neoclassical Derome bindings are distinguished by their high quality leather and technically perfect execution -- as here. In the (mis)attribution of eighteenth-century French bindings to N.-D. Derome le Jeune there will be no end, and even… Read More

London: For the Proprietor Samuel Curtis, 1840. First Edition. Very good. A quantity of 6 hand-colored engravings, matted, stained at the tape hinges in the upper margins (SEE IMAGES), each print with accompanying descriptive text loosely laid in (some foxing as commonly), pl. 3769 matte with staining to left margin, not affecting print. With defects as described, and priced accordingly. Attractive collection of hand-colored engraved prints from the famed "Curtis's Botanical Magazine," vol. 66 (1840). CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION: 1. Hakea dactyloides. Finger-Leaved Hakea (pl. 3760). 2. Oenothera Bifrons. Heart-Leaved Evening-Primrose (3764)

Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1863. First Edition. Good. [3] pp. (final page blank). Extracted from a larger volume (the two leaves are separating). Little-known report to Congress, referencing the estimated 450 Negro Egyptians who were rounded up off the streets, beaten, and forced onto a French ship bound for Mexico, without their knowing why or where they were going. The issuance of this report is the only "action" taken by the United States government. In 1863, as the Confederate South in America was fighting a bitter war with the Union North over the question of slavery, another war was raging along the U.S. border. The Second French Intervention in Mexico had been launched in late 1861, the consequence of President Benito Juarez's two-year moratorium of loan-interest payments to French, British and Spanish creditors. In 1863, Britain reported in its House of Commons that France had been continuing the slave trade by buying unsuspecting negro soldiers from the Pasha of Egypt.… Read More

Ann Arbor and Detroit, MI: Free Mumia Coalition; Emergency Committee Against the Racist Execution, 1998. Very good. Together 12 items (see below). Small collection documenting the nascent "Free Mumia" movement of the mid-1990s, which expressed outrage against the "racist" fraudulent conviction, and demanded a new trial for Abu-Jamal who was at that time on Death Row, bringing widespread public attention to the case. Abu-Jamal's supporters included a variety of intellectuals, civil rights leaders, social and political activists in the U.S. and abroad. Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook in 1954) is an American journalist and political activist. In 1982 he was tried and convicted for the murder Daniel Faulkner, a police officer, in Philadelphia. Abu-Jamal received the death sentence, but in 2011 it was effectively reduced to life in prison without parol after Pennsylvania prosecutors announced that they would abandon their efforts to have Abu-Jamal put to death. CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION: Five… Read More

San Francisco: Printed by the San Francisco Co-Operative Printing for Sumner Whitney & Co, 1871. Small 4to. 4, [2], 325, [1], xvii pp. The two portraits are in facsimile, otherwise complete. Some page numbers at top margin shaved; front blank with repaired tear; final page torn and backed. Inherent spotting or browning on account of the paper stock. Contemporary marbled boards, new calf spine and corners, new leather title label, lower leather label preserved, new pastedowns and endleaves, one pair of early endleaves preserved. Provenance: on every 50th page the initials A.W.M. are written in MS; the versos of the three leaves following the title-page are stamped [illegible] "Att'y at Law, San Francisco" with the name "Henry H. Reid" written in MS over the name of an early owner (presumably that of "A.W.M." who remains unidentified). For Henry H. Reid, see below. A GREAT RARITY OF CALIFORNIANA. THE SORDID 1870 TRIAL OF LAURA FAIR IS EASILY THE MOST FAMOUS OF THE EARLY MURDER TRIALS OF SAN FRANCISCO.… Read More

Charleston, South Carolina: Printed at the Office of the Charleston Courier, 1805. First Edition. Fair. 8vo. [3]-127, INCOMPLETE: lacking half-title, title-page (here in facsimile), and pp. 93-127 (paperstock browned throughout, p. [5] stained and a little soiled). Recent sympathetic wrappers, title written in ink on upper cover. Described in 1893 as "One of the rarest of American trials" (Catalogue of the Extraordinary Collection of Law Trials made by the late Edmund B. Wynn, no. 1275). Whereas our copy is significantly incomplete, we invite all haters to find another, but please be patient because no copy (complete or otherwise) has appeared at auction since 1963. McDade explains that this is "an unusual case at Goosecreek, South Carolina, in which the wife's lover murdered her husband outside the house and put the body in bed with the wife who attempted to conceal the crime. He was convicted and hanged. She, with Southern consideration for womankind, was acquitted" [but nonetheless she was… Read More

Paris: Durand, 1862. First Edition. Very good. Together 13 vols. (from a total of 16). 8vo. Contemporary French quarter morocco over marbled boards, worn (see images), ownership stamps from various sources, various defects, the most egregious being some worming to the outside of the binding of the last volume (not affecting text or structural integrity). All the bindings are perfectly sound, and the texts are unspoiled. THIS IS THE LARGEST PUBLISHED COLLECTION OF SPANISH-AMERICAN AND PORTUGUESE-AMERICAN TREATISES, DATING FROM THE 16TH CENTURY TO THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY; AND OF THE LATIN AMERICAN REVOLUTION -- STILL INDESPENSIBLE; A MASSIVE WORK IN THE STUDY OF LATIN AMERICAN HISTORIOGRAPHY. Complete sets are virtually impossible to find in private ownership or on the market. Our set is substantially complete, containing 13 of the 16 volumes. According to Rare Book Hub, no complete set has ever appeared at auction (!) Among Latin American diplomats in Paris in the mid-nineteenth century, a debate… Read More

New York: Henry Holt & Co, 1874. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. 8vo. Original publisher's mustard cloth, stamped in black adorned with a spider's web in which is perched a long-armed spider. ¶ First Edition in English and the First American edition. The first title was translated by Mrs. Sophie M. Butts; the second by William H. Browne. This book was first published in Russia in 1872-3, but was not published in England until 1895. Holt published six other Turgenev works in his Leisure Hour Series. A hint of age, else an unusually nice copy for a book from this series. This copy has a later state of the ads on the endpapers as usual (but seldom noted).

London (and New York): Ad 1: William Heinemann (Medical Books); Ad 2: Covici-Friede, 1933. First English edition. Good. Together 2 vols. Ad 1: 8vo. xviii, 164 pp. With 58 full-page illustrations and 480 flicker cards bound in to produce 12 "cinematographic films." Two flip cards with short tears (not affecting images or functionality). Original blue publisher's cloth (shaken, extremities worn, front endleaf with ugly creasing and with a small chip, front joint strengthened), internally excellent. NOT ex-library! Ad 2: 8vo. 441 pp. With 20 b/w plates. Original publisher's blue cloth (slightly scuffed, lacking dust-jacket). NOT ex-library! ANTICIPATING BY SEVERAL DECADES THE SOCIAL CHANGES THAT HAVE SEEN IT ACCEPTABLE FOR WOMEN TO SEEK EROTIC SATISFACTION. Published by the respected Medical Books imprint of William Heinemann, this work is complex on a number of levels. Whereas it purports to be a medical guidebook for women, the "cinematographic" flicker cards are unsettlingly suggestive. These were… Read More

Paris, Grenoble, and elsewhere, 1764. Very good. Contemporary mottled calf; spine tooled in gold; red edges; marbled endpapers. The first Grenoble imprint lacking the first leaf (half-title?); both Grenoble imprints cropped close, just shaving some text; occasional light foxing. Text block splitting from the bottom between two of the pamphlets, roughly two-thirds into the volume. Modern armorial bookplate on the front paste-down. Later, perhaps early 20th-century, handwritten table of contents tipped in at front. An attractive Sammelband, suitable for exhibition and study. SAMMELBAND OF 30 ANTI-JESUIT TRACTS, ATTESTING TO THE "INTRACTABLE" RELATIONS BETWEEN THE FRENCH STATE AND THE JESUITS, DOCUMENTING THE OFFICIAL SUPRESSION PROCESS, AS WELL AS THE PARTICIPATION OF A LITTLE-KNOWN JEWISH PRINTER IN METZ. The earliest documents, beginning in 1761 and running into 1762, demonstrate the French government's early steps toward suppression. Many of these edicts demand copies of the order's Constitutions… Read More

Ōsaka: Aoki Tsunesaburō, 1890. COMPLETE SET of four parts in two volumes, 8vo (221 x 154 mm). Vol. I: 3, 22 ff. [recte: 18, deliberately mis-paginated by the publisher]; Vol. II: 11, 9 ff. [plus fol. "23" from Vol. I]. Three parts (first series (in one part) and second series (in two parts)) in two four-hole-bound (yotsumetoji) volumes, complete, on double leaves, traditional East Asian binding style (fukurotoji). Original wrappers lightly soiled and scraped. Small chips to original mounted daisen title panels. First volume lacks blank upper pastedown. Very light internal thumbing and occasional marks. The title on the daisen reads Tsukurimono shukō no tane: shiki. THIS STRANGE AND WONDERFUL JAPANESE FOLK ART SEEMS TO HAVE NO EQUIVALENT IN WESTERN THEATER. Now virtually forgotten, "Tsukurimono" (literally "fabricated things") are amusing Japanese stage props made with everyday objects, ingeniously transformed into theatrical props of anything that can be imagined: monsters, wild animals,… Read More