Queen Anne's physician in ordinary (1705-14) is better known as a close friend of Swift, Gay and Pope, with whom he founded the Scriblerus Club; among his many political pamphlets was "The History of John Bull," 1727, which created the stereotype of John Bull the typical Englishman. Signature and salutation..... More
Best known for supposedly writing "Taps" (more likely a rewrite of an existing bugle melody), this Union general served as Hooker's chief of staff and apparently partook of that controversial general's political and shall-we-say social proclivities; he had to resign his position as Assistant Treasurer of the United Stated under..... More
Philadelphia: King & Baird, 1866. Paperback. Small 4to. Stiff tan wrappers. 14pp. Very good. Bit of soiling to outer wrappers, else tight and nice. Collis, a colonel with the 114th Pennsylvania Infantry, published this collection of documents regarding the character of one Frederick Fernandez Cavada (1832-71) to protest Cavada's appointment..... More
American physicist noted for his research on X-ray photography and photoelectricity. TLS, 1p, 5 3/4" X 7 3/4", Cambridge, MA, 1940 October 8. Addressed to noted Lincoln and Civil War scholar Arnold Gates. Near fine. On letterhead of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (of which Compton served as president, 1930-48)..... More
New York: Henry Bill, 1864. Hardcover. Small 4to. Full black calf, heavily blind-embossed, with spine gilt lettering and pictorial boxed compartments. 782pp, (2pp), (4pp ads). Tissue-guarded double frontispiece (one color), full-page heavy stock tissue-guarded portraits, illustrations large and small (some color and one large color foldout), marbled endpapers and page..... More
New York: William Gowans, 1845. Hardcover. Small 4to. Black cloth with gilt spine lettering. 57pp, 16pp ads. Very good. Modern rebind is fine, while text block is lightly age toned only. The 1670 true first edition of this constituted the first publication in English on New York, while the edition..... More
London: Isbister & Company, n.y. Hardcover. Illustrations by Herbert Railton and others. 8vo. Red cloth with ornate gilt lettering. 351pp. Frontispiece, numerous line drawings. Very good. Faint edgewear, mainly at head of spine, though internally bright and near fine. A tight and attractive first edition of the "First Series" of..... More
Cartoonist, creator of the early strip "Mutt and Jeff." TLS, 1p, 8½" X 11", New York, NY, 1929 February 22. Addressed to Marvin Keinzahler. Very good. On Bell Syndicate letterhead, which features the faint image of Mutt and Jeff in the background, Fisher comments, "It is always pleasing to hear..... More
Washington, DC: War Department, Adjutant General's Office, 1864. Handbill. 12mo (5" X 7¼"). Near fine. Faintly age toned; two-punched at left margin (not affecting text). Reports on 1 February 1864 on three "Public Resolutions" of the Senate and House of Representatives: First thanking Major General Nathaniel P. Banks "for the..... More
Italian composer whose ten verismo style operas include "Andrea Chenier" (1896), "Fedora" (1898) and "Siberia" (1903). Brief ALS "Umberto" in Italian), 1p, 5" X 6½", n.p., n.y. Addressed to "Alberti." Very good. Minor edgewear. On black-bordered mourning stationery. Not translated, but notes receipt of a telegram and, based on the..... More
American jazz pianist and band leader whose innovative techniques influenced many. Rare PS (on verso), 3¼" X 5½", n.p., n.d. Fine. Striking shot of a tuxedoed Hines at the piano, with a large, bold Earl 'Fatha' Hines on the verso. Beautiful and uncommon. More
London: J. Dicks, n.y. Hardcover. Folio. Red blind-embossed cloth over bevel-edged boards with gilt lettering and portrait. 136pp. Numerous full-page illustrations. Very good. Mild edgewear. A tight and nice copy -- internally near fine -- of this undated (1850ish?) but superbly-illustrated volume highlighting the best known works of this prolific..... More
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1933. Hardcover. Bibliography and list of prints by Carl Zigrosser. Small 4to. Blue pictorial cloth, pictorial dust jacket. 64pp, (87pp). Color frontispiece, numerous illustrations. Very good/very good. Mild jacket edgewear and bit of rubbing, with jacket spine faintly sunned. A tight and quite nice..... More
(Denver: Fred and Jo Mazzulla, 1966). Hardcover. 8vo. Full red leather, gilt, brass coin inlaid. 56pp. Numerous illustrations, 4 full-page color illustrations. Near fine. A tight and superb first edition -- the deluxe "Open Hearted Edition / Limited To Twelve Copies" (so giltstamped on front board) and boldly signed by..... More
This Union officer, a brevet general awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, is credited with inventing dynamite circa 1866 independently from Alfred Nobel; he invented other explosive manufacturing processes as well, and from 1868 to 1903 operated an explosives plant in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Handsome ALS, 1p, 5½" X 9", Oliver's..... More
Italian-born American composer and pianist. TLS, 2pp, 6½" X 8", Brooklyn, NY, 1925 May 16. Addressed to pianist John Leiser. Fine. Fascinating, lengthy explanation of how he came to write "Secrets of the Success of Great Musicians." In part: "Why was it, for instance, that some well educated, intelligent person..... More
Brother of famed Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet Dante Gabriel and of poet Christina, this noted English art critic is considered another of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; he edited its publication, "The Germ," and also served as art critic for "The Spectator"; as an editor, who collected the writings..... More
This London-born American artist was an important and prolific engraver of book illustrations and banknotes, and pioneered the use of mezzotint engravings. AQS, 1p, 6 3/4" X 3 3/4", n.p., 1878 August 7. Near fine. On a lined slip, Sartain handsomely pens a six-line poem titled "Lines for my Library,"..... More
Auburn: Derby and Miller, 1853. Hardcover. Small 4to. Dark green blind-embossed cloth with elaborate gilt spine lettering and decorations. v, 495pp. Hand-colored frontispiece engraving, several full-page and small illustrations. Very good. Binding edgeworn and rubbed; occasional spotting and foxing to some pages, notably preliminary leaves; while most text leaves are..... More
This Polish-Jewish artist, illustrator and cartoonist fled Hitler's persecution but enjoyed skewering him in his 1941 book "The New Order"; a superb miniaturist and manuscript illuminator, his prints and book illustrations often bear a resemblance to stained glass windows and medieval illuminated manuscript leaves. Partly-Printed ADS, 1p, 6¼" X 2..... More
Chicago: The Westerners, [1946]. Hardcover. Small 4to. Tan cloth with gilt lettering and decoration. 151pp, (9pp). Line drawings. Near fine. A tight, handsome first edition of the first title published by this well-known group of Chicago-area Western Americana buffs. Features such articles as Everett D. Graff's "The Westerners Go Overland;..... More
Secretary of the navy under Lincoln and Johnson. ADS, 1p, 8" X 9½", n.p., 1848 August. Very good. Attractive pale blue lined sheet. Welles, at this time chief of the bureau of provisions and clothing for the U.S. Navy, requests a $150 advance for costs incurred in traveling from Washington..... More
This Virginia artist joined the U.S. Forest Service in the early 1930s and helped launch the "Smokey the Bear" campaign in the late '30s -- now the longest running public service campaign in history; he portrayed Smokey in literally hundreds of promotional pieces that encouraged conservation of natural resources and..... More
Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing Company, [1942]. Hardcover. Illustrations by Erwin L. Darwin. 8vo. Blue paper over boards with red lettering, pictorial dust jacket. 251pp. Line drawings, pictorial endpapers. Very good/very good. Text block moderately and evenly age toned as usual; jacket rather edgeworn, with a few tiny edge chips, but..... More