Washington, D.C. Department of State, 1861. Paperback. 8vo. Wrappers. 15pp. Good. Wrappers age toned, else fine. Close-cropped clipped signature of CSA diplomat John Slidell (1793-1871) tipped to front wrapper. Circa 1900 catalogue slip affixed to top of front cover. NEVINS I, 274. More
Germantown, PA: Michael Billmeyer, 1795. Hardcover. 16mo. Original full calf with both metal clasps present and fully functional. 537pp, (5pp). Front and rear flyleaves are fairly modern crude replacements; text block moderately age toned throughout, with mild occasional foxing. A tight and attractive second printing of this noted "New Testament"... More
Medal of Honor-winning Union general remembered as the lieutenant colonel of the 37th Illinois Infantry Regiment led his troops into the Battle of Prairie Grove; he was later a Congressman and president of the U.S. Civil Service Commission (1903-13). ALS, 1p, 8" X 10½", Danville, IL, 1884 September 13. Addressed... More
This American scholar, diplomat and Congressman served as Franklin Pierce's attorney general (1853-57); special U.S. enjoy to China (1843-45), U.S. minister to Spain (1874-77). Simple and bold "C. Cushing" inked on heavy stock 4" X 2" slip, n.p., n.y. Very good. Accompanied by a stunning original cabinet photograph, 4¼" X.... More
Springfield: H.W. Rokker, 1882. Hardcover. Small 4to. Black cloth with gilt spine lettering. xxxi, 343pp. Good plus. Mild edgewear and tiny chips at head and tail of spine, with spine gilt rubbed; expertly, discreetly rebacked, with new endpapers. A tight and nice first edition of this useful and scarce Black... More
New York: Derby & Jackson, 1857. Hardcover. Complete 4-volume set. Small 8vo. Quarter calf with raised bands and gilt lettering and marbled paper over boards. 492pp; 443pp; 547pp, (4pp ads); 500pp, (2pp ads). Frontispiece, marbled endpapers and page edges. Very good. Faintest of edgewear. Supremely tight and handsome first of... More
Barcelona: Plaza & Janes, 1975. Hardcover. Small 8vo. Green cloth, pictorial dust jacket with original wrap-around band. 271pp. Very good/very good. Owner's name/address on front flyleaf. First Spanish edition, tight and quite handsome. Very scarce. More
London: Seeley and Co. Limited, 1897-98. Hardcover. Two volumes. Small 4to. Brown cloth with gilt spine and red cloth with gilt spine and front board (respectively). 100pp; 96pp. Top edge gilt (second volume only). Color frontispieces, numerous full-page plates (many color). Very good overall. Mild edgewear and bit of scuffing... More
Italian composer whose ten verismo style operas include "Andrea Chenier" (1896), "Fedora" (1898) and "Siberia" (1903). ALS "Giordano" in Italian (in bold purple pencil), 2pp (1st and 2nd leaves, ideal for display), 5¼" X 8¼", Baveno, Italy, 1914 July 17. Addressed to "Honored Maestro." Very good. On his "Villa Fedora"... More
This Maryland attorney took on high profile cases such as that of Sanford in the Dred Scott case, General Fitz-John Porter in his court martial trial after Second Manassas and Mary Surratt the alleged Lincoln assassination co-conspirator; as a statesman he served Maryland in the Senate (1849-50, 1863-68) and acted... More
New York: Fleet Publishing Corporation, 1960. Hardcover. Edited by Malvina Stephenson and Tris Coffin. Introduction by Lyndon B. Johnson. 8vo. Yellow cloth, pictorial price-clipped dust jacket. 380pp. Near fine/very good. Mild jacket edgewear. Early (not first) printing of the Oklahoma governor and senator's study of conservation, bearing a choice autograph... More
This Cleveland merchant became well-known as an abolitionist, reformer and occasional publisher; among his writings are "The Sabbath" (1840), "The Immigrant's Good Samaritan" (1848), "Law and Government" (1849), "Thoughts on the Fugitive Slave Law and Nebraska Bill" (1955), "The Great Law Book" (1857), "Word of Christ" (1857) and "The Slavery... More
The son of Edward George Bulwer Lytton was himself a noted poet, often under the pseudonym Owen Meredith; he was 1st Earl of Lytton, a noted diplomat and politician who served as viceroy of India (1875-80) and ambassador at Paris (1887-91). ALS, 3pp (lettersheet), 4½" X 7", n.p., n.y. [ca... More
Famed financier whose fortunes were made in metals and in banking; in 1902 he became president of Pittsburgh's Mellon National Bank; in public life, he served as secretary of the treasury (1921-32) under Harding, Coolidge and Hoover and as ambassador to Great Britain. A bold and handsome "Autograph of --... More
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851. Hardcover. Small 8vo. Original pebble-grained red cloth with gilt spine lettering and blind-embossed rules and front board publisher's device. xxiii, 635pp, (6pp ads). Good plus. Internally a sound "Very good," as it's internally tight and unrestored, showing only mild sporadic age toning and occasional... More
This California newspaper columnist and for a half century one of the most popular and highly-paid novelists in the U.S., cranking out almost 100 novels between 1911 ("Mother," her first) and 1955 ("Through a Glass Darkly," her last). TDS, 1p, 8½" X 11", n.p., n.y. Very good. Faintly age toned;... More
New York: Grosset & Dunlap, [1941]. Hardcover. Illustrations by F.E. Warren. Small 8vo. Orange pebble-grained cloth with blue lettering and decoration, pictorial dust jacket. 213pp. Frontispiece, pictorial endpapers. Near fine/very good. Very faintest of jacket edgewear. Wonderfully bright, crisp, tighter than tight first edition of the first title in the... More
This noted U.S. Treasury Department statistician was an entrepreneur who created a composite photograph of signers of the amendment abolishing slavery that proved quite popular; he was also an inventor, archaeologist, social reformer, philanthropist and evangelist who created cartographic maps of Egypt and North Africa for the Oriental Topographical Corps... More
The influential New England-born journalist and writer long edited the "Louisville Daily Journal" and made it the most influential Whig publication in the South and West; in 1831 he authored a popular biography of Kentucky's popular Whig senator and presidential candidate, Henry Clay, as well as a the 1860 "Prenticeana... More
Harlan Stone's successor as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1946-53) was known as a strong liberal and a civil rights champion; previously, he served as a Kentucky representative and as treasury secretary under Truman. TNS, 1p, 8" X 10½", Washington, DC, 1924 February 18. Addressed to A.N. Marquis... More
Although he appeared in "Sunset Boulevard" and other films, it is as the star and director of television's "Dragnet" that this actor is remembered. IPS, 8" X 10", n.p., n.d. [ca. 1960]. Near fine. Slight tape stain at each corner. Handsome, very typical head-and-shoulders portrait in suit and tie, showing... More
The embodiment of lust and sex appeal, the busty blond's films include classics such as "My Little Chickadee" (1940, with W.C. Fields). IPS, 8" X 10", n.p., n.d. Near fine. Printed later life informal shot showing West strumming a guitar, handsomely inscribed "To / Norman / Sincerely / Mae West." More
The author of the travel classic "Travels in the Trans-Caucasian Provinces of Russia, and Along the Southern Shore of the Lakes Van and Urumiah, in the Autumn and Winter of 1837" (London, 1839) was recounting a military mission through Persia, Turkey and Russia; he was an English soldier, a captain... More