Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts

Welcome to our shop, where we've been serving book lovers, collectors and institutions since 1991. Our stock of quality out-of-print books includes first editions, signed books and limited editions. We are also autograph dealers, with a vast inventory of letters, manuscripts and signed photos representing every field of human endeavor. You'll also find a selection of maps, pre-1900 newspapers and interesting ephemera.

Enjoy your visit!

Featured Items

American heavyweight boxing champion (1952-56), retiring with an impressive 49-0 record. Huge, bold "Best / Wishes / from / Rocky / Marciano" on an irregularly-trimmed (roughly oval) 4" X 4½" light grey slip, n.p., n.d. Good plus. Several tape stains about the edges, impinging upon only the "B" in "Best." Despite flaws, a fairly attractive example of this scarce signature. Marciano was killed in a plane crash in Iowa at age 46, thus is somewhat uncommon.

Signature and Inscription.
MARCIANO, Rocky (1923-69).
American heavyweight boxing champion (1952-56), retiring with an impressive 49-0 record. Huge, bold "Best / Wishes / from / Rocky.. more
Price: $265.00

American sculptor. IPS, 10" X 8", n.p., 1942 n.d. Very good. Scene depicting Davidson and actress Madeleine Carroll viewing a small model of Davidson's sculpture "Lest We Forget," boldly signed and inscribed.

Inscribed Photograph Sgned.
DAVIDSON, Jo (1883-1952).
American sculptor. IPS, 10" X 8", n.p., 1942 n.d. Very good. Scene depicting Davidson and actress Madeleine Carroll viewing a.. more
Price: $100.00

This unusual American architect worked mostly in the Rochester, New York area, where his Chamber of Commerce Building and First Universalist Church may still be viewed; after 1923 he moved to stage design and a second career as an occultist and spiritual writer; his architecture books include "The Beautiful Necessity" (1910), "Architecture and Democracy" (1918) and "The Frozen Fountain" (1938), while his spiritual books include "New Lamps for Old" (1925), "The Eternal Poles" (1931), "Four Dimensional Vistas" (1930) and "An Introduction to Yoga" (1933). ALS, 1p, 5 3/4" X 9½", New York, NY, 1937 October 2. Addressed to Chicago musician and music school founder John G. Leiser. Fine. On blind-embossed "Shelton Hotel" letterhead, Bragdon chats cordially with this spiritualism enthusiast. In part: "You may be interested to know that... I speak at the Biosophical Institute... on Reflections on the Life and Personality of Nicholas Roerich. The occasion being the 50th anniversary of the artistic, scientific and literary activities of Prof. Roerich. Course, if you're in town and have nothing else to do, for this group of Young Jews might interest you. They read my books as though they were the Holy Bible...." (Roerich, 1874-1947, was a Russian theosophist, philosopher and painter.) Boldly penned in black fountain pen. With original envelope, addressed in Bragdon's hand. A superb example of this uncommon autograph.

Autograph Letter Signed.
BRAGDON, Claude (1866-1946).
This unusual American architect worked mostly in the Rochester, New York area, where his Chamber of Commerce Building and First.. more
Price: $195.00

This American newspaper journalist, drama critic and author of occasional stories and poems made magic history when he befriended legendary magician Howard Thurston in the mid-1920s and became his personal representative; he wrote such books as "Card Magic," but his much-anticipated tell-all magnum opus on magic was unpublished when he died suddenly of a heart attack in Indianapolis; in 1938 his friends published "Greater Magic" on his behalf, one of the great classics of magic how-to, and later a sequel, "More Greater Magic" -- but legends about Hilliard's missing notebooks persisted until the 1990s, when the notebooks were discovered and published in 2001 as "The Lost Notebooks of John Northern Hilliard." Two items: First, an ANS, 1p, 8½" X 11", Carmel, California, 1923 April 15. Addressed to Albert Johannsen (1871-1962), a University of Chicago geology professor who authored "The House of Beadle and Adams and Its Dime and Nickel Novels" (University of Oklahoma Press, 1950), the definitive reference work and bibliography on the subject. Near fine. In Hilliard's attractive but loupeworthy incredibly miniscule script (his FULL "John Northern Hilliard" signature measures only 1 3/8ths!), he graciously notes: "I... am inclosing manuscript copy of my latest published poem. I hope that you will find it worthy to add to your collection...." Second, the aforementioned AMS, 1p, 8½" X 11", n.p., n.y. Near fine. Beautiful fair copy of this lengthy 9-stanza poem titled "Romance," which begins: "What matter if we never fare / Beyond our own horizon's dim? / Romance, the old Arch-Mage shall bear / Us sea and land afar with him." A strikingly attractive pair, penned shortly before Hilliard's fateful friendship with Thurston. Accompanied by Johannsen's original 8½" X 11" file folder, bearing a printed "Collection of Albert Johannsen" label (partly filled in by Johannsen). Autograph material from this noted magic figure is quite scarce and desireable.

Autograph Note Signed / Autograph Manuscript Signed.
HILLIARD, John Northern (1872-1935).
This American newspaper journalist, drama critic and author of occasional stories and poems made magic history when he befriended legendary.. more
Price: $295.00

View All Featured Items