Rare books from David M. Lesser, Fine Antiquarian Books LLC

London, 1767. Bound in attractive contemporary or early 19th century half morocco, marbled boards, marbled endpapers, and raised spine bands. 'Sermons' stamped in gilt on spine. Bookplate of Paul Beilby Thompson [1784-1852], the first Baron Wenlock, an English Whig and Member of Parliament during the late 1820's and the 1830's. Pages 80; 77, [1]; 99, [1]; 88; 91; 119, [1]; 68, [1]; 98, [1] pp [each, as issued]. A lovely set, in Near Fine condition [tear to one blank margin on the 1767 Sermon, and spotting on a couple of its leaves]. The Preachers, listed chronologically, are Thomas Hayter [1755], James Johnson [1758], Anthony Ellis [1759], Richard Newcome [1761], John Hume [1762], Philip Yonge [1765], William Warburton [1766], John Ewer [1767]. In addition to their Sermons, the pamphlets print the Society's Charter, its Proceedings over the preceding year, names of members and donors; the names of the Society's missionaries in Canada, the American Colonies, and the West Indies, with their narrative… Read More

Philadelphia, 1829. [4], 236 pp. Untrimmed and generously margined. Early leaves margin-spotted; otherwise lightly foxed or dusted, generally in the margins. Very Good in modern quarter calf and speckled pale boards, with gilt-lettered spine title on black morocco. Brackenridge had a remarkable career-- as a lawyer in Maryland and Pennsylvania, district attorney for the Orleans Territory, author of a foundation work on the War of 1812 and other subjects [Howes B684 et seq.], Judge of West Florida and, at the time of his efforts in behalf of the "Jew Bill," a delegate to the Maryland General Assembly. His prefatory Advertisement explains why he published this book: "The struggle in Maryland for the freedom of conscience, is one which at the time excited a deep interest; and every victory of CORRECT PRINCIPLES-- every triumph of FREEDOM, should be carefully recorded in perpetuum rei memoriam." Maryland's 1776 Constitution required, as a condition of holding "any office of trust or profit," that the… Read More

[Philadelphia: John Binns, 1828. Folio Broadside, 11" x 19." Printed in three columns, each separated by a rule. Macabre relief cuts of six black coffins within the title. Repaired horizontal and vertical closed tears on blank verso; several small holes have slight effect on several letters. Light toning. Good+ copy of a rare, dramatic broadside. "As we soon expect to have official documents in relation to the SIX MILITIA MEN, arrested, tried, and put to death, under the orders of General Andrew Jackson, this may not be an improper time to give to the public some of the particulars of the execution..." The source of those "particulars" is the account in John Binns's 'Democratic Press.' The primary weapon of the anti-Jackson forces was his alleged impetuous, unrestrained, martial personality, utterly unsuitable for the presidency of a democratic republic whose success required respect for constitutional checks and balances. Jackson's indefensible shooting of the six militia men after the Battle of… Read More

A list, set forth below, of Alabama laws from 1859, through the Civil War and early Reconstruction, in various bindings and conditions. Overall Good+ to Very Good. ACTS OF THE SEVENTH BIENNIAL SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF ALABAMA, HELD IN THE CITY OF MONTGOMERY, COMMENCING ON THE SECOND MONDAY IN NOVEMBER, 1859. Montgomery: Shorter & Reed, State Printers. 1860. 724pp. Smith, William R.: THE HISTORY AND DEBATES OF THE CONVENTION OF THE PEOPLE OF ALABAMA, BEGUN AND HELD IN THE CITY OF MONTGOMERY, ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF JANUARY, 1861; IN WHICH IS PRESERVED THE SPEECHES OF THE SECRET SESSIONS, AND MANY VALUABLE STATE PAPERS. BY...ONE OF THE DELEGATES FROM TUSCALOOSA. Atlanta: 1861. viii, [9]-336, 339-464, [2 blanks], xii [Index] pp. As issued [the text is continuous]. Modern cloth. Text with some toning and spotting. Good+. This early Confederate imprint details Alabama's march out of the Union and into the Confederacy. The imprint records Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, and Atlanta printing sites; but… Read More

Toulmin, Harry: A DIGEST OF THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA: CONTAINING THE STATUTES AND RESOLUTIONS IN FORCE AT THE END OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, IN JANUARY, 1823...COMPILED BY APPOINTMENT, AND UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, BY HARRY TOULMIN, ESQ. Cahawba: 1823. Modern buckram. xxxiv, [7]-1066 pp. Rubberstamp on title page, tape repair to last leaf [no loss], else Very Good. The first Digest of Alabama laws. It is organized alphabetically by subject, with detailed regulations concerning slavery, Free Negroes, and "Mulattoes." It includes a complete index of all the subjects encompassed. Toulmin had been a Territorial Judge in Alabama and Mississippi; earlier, he had been Kentucky's Secretary of State. "By any standard, his 1823 Digest of the Laws of the State of Alabama is an impressive compilation. Nearly a thousand pages, it encompasses statutes of the Mississippi and Alabama territories as well as the acts of the Alabama state legislature. It is unmatched as a historical document… Read More

[Raleigh?, 1898. Folio broadsheet, 17" x 11," printed in two columns on recto and verso. Uniformly browned, with bold title typefaces. The verso is AN OPEN LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN SIMMONS TO THE HON. JETER C. PRITCHARD, and dated in type at the end, "Raleigh, N.C., October 29th, 1898," a little more than a week before the State elections. Very Good, in a simple double-side mat. This rare broadsheet, an unapologetic manifesto of White Supremacy, issued at a crucial moment in North Carolina politics. It distills Democratic Party sentiments, angrily expressed during the State elections of 1898. The Democrats' mission is to "reunite white men at the ballot box," in order to redress the "consequence of turning these local offices over to the negroes," who are not "capable of administering a government. . . Homes have been invaded, and the sanctity of woman endangered. Business has been paralyzed and property rendered less valuable. The majesty of the law has been disregarded and lawlessness encouraged. . .… Read More

Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1807. Inscribed on front flypaper: "The Family Bible of John Welland Blake | Then of his daughter Anna Sophia (Blake) Cabot | Then of Anna Cabot Lodge." Bookplate of Henry Cabot Lodge. 9-1/2" x 11". [2], 1080, 72 [Concordance] pp. Folding frontis, several illustrated plates and maps [some folding], with separate title page for the New Testament. Original full heavy red leather with raised spine bands, gilt tooling on spine, black spine label [damaged], corners bumped and worn through]. Scattered foxing. The Concordance has a separate title-page with imprint: Brooklyn, Printed by Thomas Kirk, 1807. Several pages bound in before the Apocrypha for tracking births, deaths and marriages. Two additional pages tipped in to add additional room for family records. Bookplate of Henry Cabot Lodge. Very Good. The Lodge Family Bible originally belonged to John Welland Blake [1761-1818], the maternal grandfather of Henry Cabot Lodge. Blake's direct ancestor was John Howland… Read More

New York and Auburn: Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1855. Port. frontis. Pages xxxi, [1 blank], [2- engraved plate with original tissue guard], [33]-464 pp, lacking the publ. advt. Scattered foxing. The three plates, as issued, with some foxing and original tissue guards. Bound in modern cloth, gilt-lettered red morocco spine label. Good+. The first edition, and the second of Douglass's autobiographies. "A rebellious child and an exasperating slave, Douglass often suffered because of his indomitable spirit. It made him the most powerful abolitionist speaker in the country. In 1838, when he was 21, he escaped to New Bedford, learned to read and write, married, and changed his name. He then began his dangerous travels not only to 'narrate wrongs,' but to denounce them...[H]e quickly established himself as the foremost spokesman for the Negro" [LCP Negro History Exhibition]. FIRST EDITION. LCP Negro History Exhibition 187. Work 311. Dumond 48. Blockson 9717. LCP 3233.

Philadelphia: Seddon, Spotswood, Cist, and Trenchard., 1787. Pages 615-674 pp, as issued. The U.S. Constitution is printed at pages 659-665, in Very Good condition. Frontis folding meteorological table; folding plate of the Virginia Natural Bridge; full-page plate after page 654. Disbound, a few fox spots, else Very Good. This exceptionally early printing of the U.S. Constitution, ratified by the Convention at Philadelphia on 17 September 1787, is likely its first periodical printing. It was preceded by a broadside printing and a newspaper printing. John Quincy Adams's Harvard commencement address, his first published writing, is also printed. I Mott 94-99. Evans 20280. Wilbur T. Roberts: "They Printed the Declaration and the Constitution," in THE MENTOR, July 1928, pp.52-54. Leonard A. Rapport, "Printing the Constitution," in PROLOGUE: THE JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, Fall 1970, pp.69-89.

London: Printed for the Author; and sold by Charles Dilly, in the Poultry. . ., 1788. Four volumes: [26], 504; [8], 584; [8], 499, [1 blank]; [8], 445, [1, blank], [34- Index], [2 blanks] pp. Complete with nine folding maps: The United States of America; Boston, and its Environs; New York Island, & parts adjacent; The Jerseys, &c. &c; folding map of parts of Canada and New England at rear of Volume 2; The Carolina's, with part of Georgia; A Sketch of the Operations before Charlestown, South Carolina, 1780; The Part of Virginia which was the Seat of Action; Yorktown, and Gloucester Point, as besieged by The Allied Army. Bound in contemporary or near-contemporary marbled paper over boards and half calf, with gilt spine rules and gilt-lettered red morocco spine labels. Lightly foxed, Very Good. "First full-scale history of this war by an American; to its preparation Jefferson contributed some aid" [Howes]. "Gordon is deservedly reckoned as one of the most impartial and reliable of the numerous… Read More

Near Petersburg, Va., 1864. Single leaf, 8" x 10." Entirely in ink manuscript. Signed by the three appraisers, all Confederate officers. ANNOTATED BY LEE IN HIS HANDWRITING ON VERSO IN INK: "10 Aug '64. Board of Appraisement of horses attached to Hdqrs." Followed by contemporary pencil notation: "Confederate value of "Traveller" & "Lucy." Old horizontal folds and light wear. Very Good. Traveller, of course, was Lee's horse. "In 1864, after the horse became truly famous, he was appraised at $4,600 Confederate" [online, "From War Horse To Saddle Horse." American Saddlebred Magazine, November/December 1998]. Lee's second most famous horse, "Lucy Long was a present to General Lee from General J.E.B. Stuart in 1862, when the former was conducting the Sharpsburg campaign. She was a low, easy moving, and quite sorrel mare. Continuing on...she was low, and easy to mount, and her gaits were easy. General Lee rode her quite constantly until toward the close of the war, when she was found to be in foal and… Read More

Philadelphia: Prichard and Hall, 1788. [4], 244, [4 bookseller advts] pp, as issued. Woodcut map of Madison's Cave at page [20]; folding letterpress table on the Indians of Virginia [archival restoration at blank outer margin and reinforcement of fold, text unaffected]. The folding and in-text tables describe and compare Quadrupeds of Europe and America; the Birds of Virginia, rainfall, settlers, militia, Indians, crimes, trade. Original calf [hinges, spine ends, corners with expert restoration], gilt-lettered spine title on red morocco, gilt spine rules. First Prichard advertisement leaf has a small chip, affecting three letters. Light foxing. Very Good, with interesting provenance. This first American edition of Jefferson's most significant work has an extremely interesting provenance. The first front free endpaper is signed by Judith C. Lewis; the second by her father, Robert Lewis [and dated 1787]. "The tenth son of Betty and Fielding Lewis, Robert Lewis was also George Washington's nephew and… Read More

NY, Flatbush, Washington City, 1819. Nine volumes, printed 1806-1819. First editions except for Volumes I and III, which are second editions [New York: 1815 and 1812]. Texts clean with mild scattered foxing and light toning . Reporter's printed side margin notes. Bound uniformly in attractive modern quarter calf and marbled paper over boards, with gilt-lettered spine titles on red morocco. Very Good. With the original bookplates of D.M. Barringer [1806-1873],North Carolina politician, and his son Lewin Barringer. Except for Volumes I and III [the second editions], the Reports are their first editions. Cranch [1769-1855] was the official Reporter of Supreme Court decisions from 1802-1815. His Reports print the Court's decisions from 1801 to 1815. Each volume has an "Index to the Principal Matters Contained in this Volume." "The period taken in by Judge Cranch, is, perhaps, the most momentous and lustrous in our judicial history. The principles of our admiralty and maritime jurisprudence, were in a… Read More

[Philadelphia, 1798. Folio Broadside, 18-1/2" x 11-1/2". Printed in two columns. Signed in typescript and type by President Adams, and in type by George Washington. Expert restoration at upper blank corner, old horizontal fold expertly reinforced. Near Fine. A rare and significant broadside, reflecting Washington's final public service. It is also an impressive expression of early American patriotism. President John Adams, the recipient of Washington's Letter, transmits it to the Senate. It records, Adams says, a "great event, the General's acceptance of his appointment, as Lieutenant-General and Commander in Chief of the Army." In July 1798, hostilities with France tilted toward open warfare. President John Adams turned to Washington, retired at Mount Vernon for more than a year. Adams sent Secretary of War James McHenry to convince Washington that his country needed him one more time. The broadside prints Washington's response to Adams, dated 13 July 1798 Despite his retirement, Washington says,… Read More

Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1783. 48pp, as issued. Stitched. Blank inner margins archivally reinforced. Untrimmed. Blank lower corner at leaf 33-34 chipped. Two faint, inoffensive blindstamps. Very Good. "This was his famous address on resigning his command of the army" [Howes], at the close of the Revolution. In a "Circular" from his Newburgh Head-Quarters in June 1783, printed here through page 12, America's Cincinnatus relinquishes his powers and announces his "return to that domestic retirement, which, it is well known, I left with the greatest reluctance." Ending his days "as a public character," he gives "my final blessing to that country in whose service I have spent the prime of my life." Recounting the "enviable condition" of the newly free country, Washington says "this is the favourable moment to give such a tone to our foederal government, as will enable it to answer the ends of its institution." He urges "an indissoluble union of the States under one foederal head." Washington also… Read More